Political violence discourse takes center stage at Virginia attorney general debate

RICHMOND, Va. (CN) — A scandal over Democratic hopeful Jay Jones’ violent text messages overshadowed Virginia’s lone attorney general debate Thursday night.

Jones faces an uphill battle with Republican incumbent Jason Miyares after the National Review leaked text messages between Jones and a Republican state lawmaker colleague from 2022. Jones, who has admitted to sending the text, told Republican Delegate Carrie Coyner that if he had a gun with two bullets and he was with Adolf Hitler, Pol Pot, and then-Republican Speaker of the House of Delegates Todd Gilbert, he would shoot Gilbert in the head twice.

“Let me be very clear,” Jones said at the debate sponsored by the Virginia State Bar and hosted by the University of Richmond. “I am ashamed, I am embarrassed, and I am sorry."

Despite Jones addressing the scandal during opening statements, the topic came up numerous times as Miyares attempted to paint Jones as too dangerous and divisive for the job of top cop.

“We have seen a window into who Jay Jones is and the way he thinks of people that disagree with him,” Miyares said. “If you were truly sorry, you would not be running for this office because you disqualified yourself.”

The pair were texting after Republicans like Gilbert paid tribute on the House floor to Democrat state lawmaker Joe Johnson Jr., who had recently died.

“If those guys die before me, I will go to their funerals to piss on their graves,” Jones, who also said he thought Gilbert’s children should die and that Todd and his wife, Jennifer, were “breeding little fascists.”

The text prompted an outpouring of Republicans and even some Democrats demanding Jones withdraw from the race. President Donald Trump was among the crowd urging Jones to step down as the Democrats’ candidate.

“It has just come out that the Radical Left Lunatic, Jay Jones, who is running against Jason Miyares, the GREAT Attorney General in Virginia, made SICK and DEMENTED jokes, if they were jokes at all, which were not funny,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Oct. 5. “Even Democrats are saying it is ‘RESIGNATION FROM CAMPAIGN’ TERRITORY.”

Jones attempted to paint Miyares as a Trump crony who prioritizes the president’s wishes over the needs of Virginians. Miyares has opted not to join several multistate lawsuits against the administration on issues like mass federal employee layoffs.

“He’s talking a lot about prosecuting cases, but he can’t seem to prosecute a case against Donald Trump,” Jones said. “They hang out at MAGA rallies together. I will see Donald Trump in court to hold him accountable for Virginians.”

Miyares clapped back that Jones was running for the wrong office. He also noted Jones’ lack of experience as a prosecutor.

“If Jay Jones wants to fight the fights in Washington, he should run for Congress, but he’s running for the wrong office,” Miyares said. “He is not safe to be the people’s protector of Virginia.”

Miyares also described Jones as soft on crime, pointing to legislation he supported that reduced bail amounts and provided early release incentives for prisoners. Jones said he would follow three pillars as attorney general: cracking down on violent crime and supporting victims, getting illegal guns off the street and protecting Virginia’s children.

“Jay Jones is a ‘criminal first, victim last’ politician,” Miyares said. “Were you protecting Jennifer’s children when you said you wanted to see them die in their mother’s arms?”

Jones spent considerable time accusing Miyares of siding with large corporate donors over constituents. Jones said Miyares hasn’t been tough enough on Dominion Energy, the state’s top energy provider.

“He cannot stand here and say that he’s going to hold them accountable when they are lining his pockets with all of that money,” Jones said. “I can’t wait to unleash our consumer protection unit to go and fight for the people here in Virginia to lower their costs.”

The scandal has narrowed the gap significantly between Jones and Miyares in the latest polls. Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger and lieutenant governor hopeful Ghazala Hashmi held considerable leads over Winsome Earle-Sears and John Reid, respectively, according to an end-of-September poll from Christopher Newport University.

According to the Virginia Public Access Project, Miyares has raised over $16 million in donations, over $4 million more than Jones.

During Miyare’s time in office, he has secured over $1 billion in settlements from pharmaceutical companies for their role in the opioid epidemic. Miyares has also launched Operation Ceasefire, an initiative aimed at reducing criminal violence through investments in gang prevention, supporting victim protection funding, supporting community policing in high-crime neighborhoods and increasing penalties for illegal firearm possession.

Jones, who served as assistant attorney general under Democrat Mark Herring, has emphasized protecting abortion rights, holding corporate rule breakers accountable and standing up to the Trump administration.