In Virginia’s race for the office of attorney general on Tuesday night, Democratic candidate Jay Jones’ win against Republican incumbent Jason Miyares proved that an eleventh-hour scandal won’t necessarily extinguish a political campaign.
Actually, make that two scandals.
The polls show a narrower win than the state’s gubernatorial race, which Democrat Abigail Spanberger won. Jones surpassed Miyares by less than 200,000 votes, according to The New York Times’ election results, even making a note that the tighter race was likely a result of the scandal that was published about Jones last month.
Jones took home 52.8% of the votes compared to Miyares receiving 46.8% and .4% write-ins.
The 2 scandals Jones overcame to win attorney general
Democrat Jay Jones takes a selfie with a supporter at an election night watch party for Democrat Abigail Spanberger after Jones was declared the winner of the Virginia attorney general’s race Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025, in Richmond, Va. | Stephanie Scarbrough
On Oct. 3, the National Review released text messages Jones sent in 2022 that revealed he imagined shooting Virginia’s then-Republican House Speaker Todd Gilbert, and wishing harm to Gilbert’s children.
“Three people, two bullets. Gilbert, hitler, and pol pot. Gilbert gets two bullets to the head,” he texted former Republican House Delegate Carrie Coyner.
“Spoiler: put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people you know and he receives both bullets every time,” he continued. Coyner responded, telling him to stop, to which he replied, “Lol.”
According to the National Review, Jones then proceeded to call and explain himself to Coyner:
“The Democratic former legislator doubled down on the call, saying the only way public policy changes is when policymakers feel pain themselves, like the pain that parents feel when they watch their children die from gun violence. … He suggested he wished Gilbert’s wife could watch her own child die in her arms so that Gilbert might reconsider his political views, prompting Coyner to hang up the phone in disgust.”
Following the release of the texts, Jones released a statement to a separate outlet that he regretted the texts, then turned the narrative into a Trump-controlled media attempting to smear him.
“Like all people, I’ve sent text messages that I regret and I believe that violent rhetoric has no place in our politics,” Jones said.
He continued, “Let’s be clear about what is happening in the Attorney General race right now: Jason Miyares is dropping smears through Trump-controlled media organizations to assault my character and rescue his desperate campaign. This is a strategy that ensures Jason Miyares will continue to be accountable to Donald Trump, not the people of Virginia. This race is about whether Trump can control Virginia or Virginians control Virginia.”
The texts were released less than a month after conservative activist Charlie Kirk was assassinated during his “Prove Me Wrong” tour at Utah Valley University, prompting a national conversation regarding violent rhetoric and whether that feeds violent action.
Also, last month, the New York Post reported information obtained by the Richmond Times-Dispatch that, after being handed a vehicular offense for driving 116 mph in 2022, Jones avoided the state’s mandatory one-year jail sentence by promising 1,000 hours of community service.
He spent 500 hours volunteering with the NAACP Virginia State Conference, but for the last 500 hours logged, he apparently used them with his own political action committee, Meet Our Moment.
“Instead of taking accountability for his actions, it appears that my opponent submitted a letter to the Court stating that he performed 500 hours of ‘community service’ for his own Political Action Committee, which is not a charitable organization under the Virginia code, to dodge potential jail time,” Miyares told the outlet.
“Our laws are not suggestions,” he added. “This new information raises serious, troubling questions about Jay Jones’ judgment, his ability to uphold the law, and ultimately, his qualifications for Attorney General.”
Following his win last night, Jones gave his victory speech, noting that “this was a hard-fought campaign.”
“But at the end of the day, this election has never been about me or my opponent. It has always been about every single one of us and the future of Virginia. And this election, this victory is for you and for every Virginian who is lying awake right now. … Not because they’re following along with these election returns, but because they’re worried about their future for themselves and for families just like mine. We have big fights ahead of us. Our commonwealth and our country will continue to be tested. But tonight, I make this pledge to every single Virginian. I will never ever stop fighting for you.”
