Democrat Jay Jones has watched his lead vanish in the race for Virginia attorney general and is now either tied or trailing Republican incumbent Attorney General Jason Miyares, as fallout continues from Jones’ leaked 2022 texts fantasizing about shooting a Republican official and hoping his children died in their mother’s arms.
Three new polls released this week place Miyares an average of 2.4 points ahead of Jones, according to RealClearPolling.
Miyares held a 4-point lead in a Suffolk University poll, with 46.4% of respondents saying they were voting for Miyares and 42.4% voting for Jones. The poll surveyed 500 likely Virginia general election voters from Oct. 17-20.
A Quantus Insights survey of 1,302 likely Virginia voters conducted Oct. 19-20 gave Miyares a 7-point lead, 49%-42%, even though 46% of those surveyed identified as Democrat compared to 40% as Republican.
A Washington Post and George Mason Schar School of Policy and Government poll of registered voters conducted Oct. 16-20 had Miyares and Jones tied at 46% support.
According to RealClearPolling, Jones had been steadily leading the polls since June by an average of 6.4 points.
Earlier this month, National Review made public Jones’ violent and threatening text messages directed at Virginia Republican House of Delegates Speaker Todd Gilbert. Jones suggested Gilbert should get “two bullets to the head” and hoped his children would die because people only move on policy when “they feel pain personally.”
Jones’ loss of support also comes amid early October revelations of his reckless driving history. He was found to have misled the court regarding how he served his community service punishment. It was revealed that a large portion of his community service was working for his own campaign. A special prosecutor has been assigned to look into the case further.
Miyares has held a steady lead since Jones’ scandal came to light.
But just 11 days before Election Day, Democrat gubernatorial nominee Abigail Spanberger continues to top her GOP opponent in polls. According to RealClearPolling, Spanberger holds an average 7.1 point lead ahead of Republican nominee Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears.
