Virginians elected Democrat Jay Jones as attorney general Tuesday, despite the release of text messages in which he fantasized about murdering Republican lawmakers and their children.
Those messages were not enough to dissuade Virginians from tapping Jones as the commonwealth’s top cop.
Decision Desk HQ projected Jones had defeated incumbent Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares just over an hour after the polls closed.
Decision Desk HQ projects Jay Jones to win the Virginia Attorney General election.#DecisionMade: 8:26 pm ET
Follow live results on our website. pic.twitter.com/7FHdoAkgCY
— Decision Desk HQ (@DecisionDeskHQ) November 5, 2025
In the August 2022 texts, Jones wrote about hypothetically shooting then–Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert in messages to Republican state delegate Carrie Coyner.
“Three people, two bullets. Gilbert, hitler, and pol pot,” Jones wrote, National Review first reported. “Gilbert gets two bullets to the head.”
Coyner replied, “Jay. Please stop.”
The private messages offer a disturbing glimpse into how Jones — who is looking to oust incumbent Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares this fall — describes his political adversaries in private conversations. pic.twitter.com/vvbtcn4vIQ
— National Review (@NRO) October 3, 2025
Does the outcome of the Virginia attorney general’s race surprise you?
The texts also included a line in which Jones said the children of his political rivals should die.
This violent, disgusting rhetoric targeted at an elected official and his children is beyond disqualifying.
Jay Jones said that “Gilbert gets two bullets to the head” and then hoped his children would die. Read those words again.
There is no “gosh, I’m sorry” here. Jones… https://t.co/kOJD0cexlh
— Glenn Youngkin (@GlennYoungkin) October 4, 2025
Jones never denied sending the texts, and he declined to apologize.
His messages surfaced just weeks after the political assassination of Charlie Kirk.
Republicans across the country condemned Jones’s remarks and called on him to exit the race.
Many called on Democratic nominee for governor Abigail Spanberger to demand that Jones withdraw from the race.
Spanberger and other Democratic leaders declined to do so.
Jones instead vowed to remain in the race and attempted to shift attention to other campaign issues.
Despite the outrage, Virginia voters chose him over Miyares.
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