Puckett’s stunning resignation came on the eve of finalizing the state budget and gave Republicans a 20-19 advantage in the previously deadlocked Virginia Senate. That edge allowed the GOP to insert and delete language in the final spending plan that effectively prevented McAuliffe from using his executive authority to authorize the expansion of Medicaid.

The contents of Reagan’s message, first reported Thursday night by The Washington Post, reflect the high stakes and level of desperation in which Democrats regarded Puckett’s defection﻿.

Prominent statewide Democrats, including McAuliffe and U.S. Sen. Mark R. Warner, also made appeals to Puckett to stay on and preserve Democratic control of the chamber.

“I know there was a lot of frustration with your daughter, not, you know, getting a judgeship or something,” Reagan said, according to a transcript of the call.

“If there’s something that we can do for her, I mean, you know, we have a couple of big agencies here that we still need agency heads. We could potentially, potentially, subject to approval of the governor and so forth, you know, the Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy could be available.