Republicans are bullish about a statewide race in Virginia this year after recent revelations the Democratic attorney general nominee sent texts wishing violence on his political adversaries.
President Donald Trump and Republicans have seized on the messages from Jay Jones, who wrote a Republican colleague about “bullets” intended for then-House Speaker Todd Gilbert. The messages, unearthed a month before the off-cycle election, have given the GOP hope that Virginia’s incumbent attorney general, Jason Miyares, could emerge victorious in what otherwise appears to be a tough bellwether year for them.
The texts, released three weeks after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk, plays into Trump’s narrative that the political left increasingly courts violent extremism. And, Republicans argue, Democrats’ resistance to force Jones off the ticket only underscores that message.
Trump posted on Truth Social over the weekend that Jones “should drop out of the Race, IMMEDIATELY” and GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin called the messages “beyond disqualifying.” Miyares, who demanded his opponent step aside, described it as “a moral test for our time.” State Republicans are out this week with new TV ads lambasting Jones for his rhetoric and the issue has been a top topic on conservative cable and social media.
“This could be an October surprise that has some sway,” DJ Jordan, a Republican strategist and former chief of staff to Miyares, said of the potential impact on what’s expected to be a low-turnout election. “I think you could see some damage done to the Democrats.”
Republicans clearly see an opening to take out Jones, who had been leading in the polls, and some privately acknowledge the longer Democrats — particularly the party’s nominee for governor, former Rep. Abigail Spanberger — stick by him, the more it allows the GOP to go on the offense in the final weeks before Election Day.
“This is no longer an AG race story,” said Adam Piper, the executive director of the Republican Attorneys General Association. “This is a governor race story … this is a national conversation, and the Democrat Party is at a fork in the road.”
Republicans see the violent text saga as a way to damage the entire ticket, arguing that Spanberger’s refusal to call for Jones to leave the race demonstrates she is incapable of making tough calls as the top elected official in Virginia.
Jones, who is continuing in the race, has apologized to the Gilbert family. In an interview with Richmond ABC affiliate WRIC last week he said “this race has never been about me,” adding that if elected he would work to protect Virginians from the Trump administration’s overreach.
The Jones campaign did not make him available for this story.
With early voting already underway in Virginia, it may be too late for Democrats to ditch Jones. A Virginia election official said that while “there is no express deadline prior to an election for a candidate to withdraw … the withdrawn candidate cannot be replaced on the ballot” if it happens within two months of the election.
Democrats are instead focused on the shuttering of the federal government, now in its eighth day, as key to their closing message.
Spanberger’s campaign declined multiple requests for comment, but issued a statement Friday citing her “disgust” over Jones’ texts. She stopped short of calling for him to drop out of the race.
Both Miyares and Earle-Sears have released ads hitting their opponents over the messages, framing both Spanberger and Jones as out of touch. The Miyares campaign as well as the Republican Governors Association are dropping $1.5 million a piece on the heels of the text messaging scandal. Reservations for GOP-aligned ads backing Miyares hit $3.5 million this week — far outpacing the $1.6 in Dem-backed ads for Jones, according to the ad tracking firm AdImpact. The criticisms of Democrats Spanberger and Jones have also been amplified on social media with national Republicans including Alabama Sen. Katie Britt, former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and Vice President JD Vance.
As of now, previously scheduled candidate debates are moving forward, with the gubernatorial candidates squaring off Thursday at Norfolk State University and the nominees for attorney general set for Oct. 16 in Richmond.
Other Democrats have largely brushed off calls for Jones to resign.
“Republicans that are asking him to resign, where were they when Trump … and other Republicans have made their comments?” Virginia state Sen. Lamont Bagby, who also chairs the state’s Democratic Party, asked in an interview. Bagby accused Republicans, including Miyares, of being “silent” on political violence incited by Trump, including the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection of the Capitol, adding he didn’t view Jones’ texts as “an action that anyone should end their political bid over.”
The Democratic National Committee declined a request for comment on the story. But the president of the Democratic Attorneys General Association, Sean Rankin, said in a statement that the calls for Jones to step aside “ring hollow” and was merely an example of “selective outrage” on the part of Republicans.
In recent cycles, Democrats have cast their candidates and the party writ large as steeped in morals and common sense, but after Trump’s win, Democrats have more recently leaned into aggressive tactics in an attempt to match Trump’s bluster, including mimicking his all-caps self-promotional style social media posts or assigning disparaging nicknames to political opponents.
“People on the left feel as if they have to be the perfect, highest moral individuals in the world,” said Wes Bellamy, a well-connected progressive activist who teaches at Virginia State University. “Normal everyday people say stupid things in text messages online all of the time.”
“If that is the thing that means the Democratic ticket [doesn’t] win the election, then they’ve got bigger issues,” he added.
The text messages are the latest scandal Jones faces in his quest for Virginia’s top law enforcement job.
Republicans also noted Jones was caught driving 116 miles per hour, per the Richmond Times Dispatch. He reportedly struck a deal to avoid jail time by paying a fine and doing community service, with some of those hours completed while working at his own political action committee.
And the Virginia Scope on Monday reported Jones allegedly suggested more police officers should die to prevent them from killing civilians, statements Jones denies making.
The unearthed scandals come as Democrats lead in recent polls, including a Washington Post-Schar School survey that found Jones leading Miyares by 6 percentage points among likely voters and Spanberger beating Earle-Sears by double digits.
