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1h ago

Police Group Urges Jay Jones to Decline Office as Fallout From Violent Texts Reshapes Virginia Races

Early voting already tops 421,000, complicating the fallout’s electoral impact.

Former Del. Jay Jones has won the Democratic nomination in the race for Virginia attorney general. (Credit:{ }Jay Jones for Virginia)
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Winsome Earle-Sears, left, and Abigail Spanberger.
Jay Jones, who is running to become Virginia's attorney general in 2025, speaks to the audience during Abigail Spanberger's bus tour stop at Stacy C. Sherwood Community Center in Fairfax, Virginia, on June 26, 2025.

Overview

  • Jay Jones apologized for 2022 texts about shooting then–Speaker Todd Gilbert and referencing harm to his children, stayed in the race, canceled a high-profile David Baldacci fundraiser, and quietly resumed limited campaign stops.
  • The Virginia Police Benevolent Association urged that, if Jones wins, he should decline to take office, while endorsing Jason Miyares for attorney general and Abigail Spanberger for governor.
  • Republicans escalated pressure with new ads and spending, including a fresh $1.5 million from the Republican Governors Association to boost gubernatorial nominee Winsome Earle-Sears, as Democrats condemned Jones’s rhetoric but largely stopped short of urging withdrawal.
  • New surveys indicate erosion in Jones’s standing: an internal Hart Research poll for his campaign shows a 46%-45% edge over Miyares after the leak, while a RAGA-commissioned poll now has Miyares narrowly ahead.
  • National figures weighed in, with President Trump and other Republicans urging Jones to quit, while prominent Democrats such as Sen. Tim Kaine voiced support despite calling the texts indefensible and Nancy Pelosi said voters should decide.