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Tag: virginia attorney general

  • Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares says he will ‘seek common ground’ in event of split ticket – WTOP News

    Virginia could end up with Republican and Democratic leaders in top offices. Attorney General Jason Miyares says should that happen, he will seek “common ground.”

    Democrat Abigail Spanberger holds a commanding lead over Republican Winsome Earle-Sears in Virginia’s governor’s race, and Democratic candidate Ghazala Hashmi has a slight edge over Republican John Reid for lieutenant governor.

    But, Democratic challenger Jay Jones trails incumbent Attorney General Jason Miyares by a lot, according to recent polls, setting up the commonwealth for a split administration.

    Miyares told WTOP’s Nick Iannelli that should that happen, he “would seek common ground.”

    “Anybody who’s followed my career dating back to the General Assembly, I never got up and gave these crazy partisan speeches attacking people. I’m a firm believer — No. 1, stability is not weakness. That is one of my guide posts in my life,” Miyares said. “No. 2, your safety is my mission, Virginia, so I would seek common ground.”

    Ticket splitting in Virginia used to be more common, but it’s been 20 years since voters elected a slate of three statewide officials from different parties, Virginia Mercury reported.

    A survey conducted by Roanoke College from Oct. 22 to Oct. 27, found Spanberger ahead of Earle-Sears, the current lieutenant governor, by 10% among likely voters. Hashmi has a 2% lead over Reid, and Miyares leads by 8% over Jones.

    Miyares said he heard from a Northern Virginia mother who said she was voting a straight Democratic ticket except for the office of attorney general.

    “She said that anybody like Jay Jones that actually has advocated for violence should never be in that position,” Miyares said, referring to text messages Jones sent in 2022 hypothesizing about shooting then-Speaker of the House Todd Gilbert.

    During the attorney general candidates’ debate, Jones apologized for the texts.

    “Let me be very clear,” Jones said. “I am ashamed, I am embarrassed and I’m sorry.”

    Miyares said Jones’ apology was “not sincere,” and that he’s since “disqualified himself.”

    He added that Jones’ first statement when the text messages emerged was an attack on him and the words, “Like all people, I’ve sent text messages that I regret.”

    Miyares said he’s looking forward to working with the General Assembly, as well as the governor, regardless of which party takes control of the legislative body or who lands in the governor’s mansion.

    Listen to a portion of Miyares’ interview below.

    Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares says he will seek ‘common ground’ in the event of a split ticket

    WTOP’s Nick Iannelli contributed to this report. 

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    © 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

    Abigail Constantino

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  • WATCH: Virginia attorney general candidates debate with text scandal front and center – WTOP News

    The two candidates for Virginia attorney general, Republican incumbent Jason Miyares and his Democratic challenger Jay Jones, squared off Thursday night in their first and only debate before Election Day on Nov. 4.

    The debate took place at University of Richmond, and came just two weeks after text messages sent by Jones three years ago that show him fantasizing about shooting a Republican Virginia lawmaker were made public.

    Watch the debate below.

    Thomas Robertson

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  • Will text message scandal derail Democratic success in Virginia election? – WTOP News

    Virginia’s election is only a few weeks away and the race for attorney general is drawing attention following the discovery of text messages sent in 2022 by Democratic nominee Jay Jones.

    Virginia’s election is only a few weeks away and the race for attorney general is drawing attention following the discovery of text messages sent in 2022 by Democratic nominee Jay Jones.

    In the messages, which recently resurfaced, Jones described a hypothetical scenario in which he would kill then-Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert. The messages were sent to Republican House of Delegates candidate Carrie Coyner.

    At the time, Jones wrote:

    • Three people, two bullets
    • Gilbert, hitler, and pol pot
    • 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

    Polling

    Since the discovery, Jones has faced numerous calls from both Democrats and Republicans to drop out of the race. Polls have also shown the margins tightening between him and Republican incumbent candidate Jason Miyares.

    Kyle Kondik, managing editor of Sabato’s Crystal Ball from the University of Virginia Center for Politics, said whether or not Miyares is really leading in polls remains to be seen.

    “I don’t think we’ve really gotten true, nonpartisan polling of the race. Since the news about Jay Jones came out, there have been a few polls — including one from Jones’ campaign — that showed Jones losing ground, which makes sense. I mean, this is a huge story in Virginia politics,” Kondik said.

    Thursday’s AG debate

    The candidates for attorney general are set to have their first and only debate on Thursday.

    Kondik said Miyares will likely try to ensure Jones’ text messages stay front and center in the minds of voters.

    “I think the key thing is, what happens in this debate, and does it either sustain or stall this story?” Kondik said.

    He also highlighted new advertisements incorporating the text messages from Jones.

    “Miyares has already run, what I think are, some pretty effective ads using this text messaging story against Jones. And so he should be able to have some sort of advantage on that down the stretch of the election,” Kondik said.

    National politics and ticket splitting

    Despite the recent controversy surrounding Jones, Kondik said the current political environment still favors Democrats in Virginia politics. He also pointed to the polling in Virginia’s race for governor, which shows Democrat Abigail Spanberger leading Republican candidate Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears.

    “The challenge is, I think, it’s still probably a Democratic-leaning environment overall, in Virginia and nationally in 2025,” Kondik said. “I do think Abigail Spanberger is still favored in the governor’s race, and then the question is whether there are long enough coattails to allow Jones to win.”

    He said ticket splitting has been on the decline in Virginia and it’s a great test to see how potent ticket splitting is.

    “It’s possible that Jones gets beat up on this story for the rest of the campaign, but still is able to win just because of these bigger picture factors,” Kondik said.

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    © 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

    Acacia James

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