Jay Jones wins Virginia attorney general's race amid texting scandal

Former Virginia Del. Jay Jones (D) was projected to oust incumbent Attorney General Jason Miyares (R) in the race for the state’s top law enforcement spot on Tuesday, staving off a texting controversy that dogged his candidacy in the campaign’s final month. 

While the race was always considered one of the more competitive statewide contests in Virginia this cycle, it was roiled in its final stretch by resurfaced violent texts sent by Jones in 2022 about then-state House Speaker Todd Gilbert (R). 

“Three people, two bullets,” Jones wrote in a text to Del. Carrie Coyner (R) about Gilbert. 

“Gilbert, hitler, and pol pot,” Jones wrote. “Gilbert gets two bullets to the head.”

“Spoiler: put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people you know and he receives both bullets every time,” Jones told Coyner. 

Coyner, in response, told Jones, who at the time did not hold an elected office, to stop.

Jones apologized for the texts, but Republicans from Miyares to President Trump used the scandal to attack the Democrat throughout the final month of the campaign.

Trump, Vice President Vance and Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) called on Jones to drop out of the race. Miyares unveiled a seven-figure ad buy hitting Jones over the texts. 

Democrats, including Virginia gubernatorial nominee Abigail Spanberger, condemned Jones’s texts but stopped short of calling on him to drop out of the race. Early voting in the state had already begun by the time the scandal broke in early October. 

Jones’ win will likely be seen as a relief for Democrats who expressed concerns over the potential of a Miyares reelection given his staunch support of the Trump administration.