Virginia Republicans are questioning Democrats’ denunciations of fellow Democrat and Virginia attorney general candidate Jay Jones, suggesting the repulsiveness of Jones’ behavior compels them to demand that he drop out of the race, which Democrats refuse to do.
Two scandals have hit Jones’ campaign in recent weeks. In the first one, in leaked text messages from 2022, Jones fantasized about shooting former Republican Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert and the death of Gilbert’s two young children. In the second, Jones is accused of misleading a court about how he completed the community service he was serving for a reckless driving charge—many of his community service hours were spent in service to his own political campaign.
Virginia Democrat gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger avoided answering whether she still endorsed Jones for attorney general during a recent debate. “We are all running our individual races,” Spanberger told the crowd. “It is up to every person to make their own decision.”
Spanberger’s Republican opponent, Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, repeatedly asked Spanberger to answer the question, as did the debate moderators, but the Democrat ultimately chose not to pull her endorsement of Jones.
Former Republican U.S. Rep. Bob Good questioned Spanberger’s and other Democrats’ denunciations of Jones. “The Democrat Party at large is complicit in these express thoughts by the fact that none of them have called for him to step out of the race or have recognized that he is unfit to be the attorney general of Virginia,” Good told The Daily Signal.
On the same day the text scandal broke on Oct. 3, U.S. Rep. Eugene Vindman, a fellow Democrat, continued to boost Jones’ candidacy. In a post on X, he urged Virginians to vote for Jones and “Democrats up and down the ballot.”
Other Virginia Democrats have been more forceful in their condemnations of Jones but still don’t call for him to stand down.
U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine appeared on “Meet the Press” on Sunday and said the texts “cannot be defended.” Nevertheless, Kaine said Jones should stay in the race.
U.S. Sen. Mark Warner had previously endorsed Jones and donated $25,000 to Jones’ election effort in August. After the texts were leaked, the senator made a public statement on X: “The comments attributed to Jay Jones are appalling, unacceptable, and inconsistent with the person I’ve known.”
Republicans note that Democrats even appear to still have major associations with Jones. Spanberger’s campaign website, for example, is still selling merchandise with Jones’ and her names next to each other.
Calls from Republicans across the state for Jones to step down continue to come in.
Republican U.S. Rep. Jen Kiggans not only says she wants Jones to drop out of the race but out of politics altogether. She told The Daily Signal, “Jay Jones’ comments aren’t just unacceptable—they’re disqualifying. Threatening rhetoric and violent language have no place in Virginia politics, and certainly not from someone asking to be our attorney general. Any Virginia Democrat should know this and should immediately demand Jones step aside.”
“Public service demands the highest standard of conduct and integrity,” said Republican U.S. Rep. John McGuire’s office. “The reported violent and threatening comments made by Jay Jones are reprehensible and should disqualify him from the race for attorney general in Virginia.”
