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The Fox News Decision Desk has projected that Democrat Jay Jones will become the next attorney general of Virginia.
Jones overcame weeks of burgeoning scandals as voters looked past them to pick the Norfolk Democrat over incumbent Republican Jason Miyares, who burnished his record of going after drug companies, gangbangers and traffickers.
Jones, the son of longtime Norfolk delegate Jerrauld Jones and a former Biden Justice Department staffer, beat back dueling scandals over a 116-mph reckless driving arrest featuring scrutinized affidavits of 1,000 community service hours sworn to by his own political action committee and the NAACP of Virginia.
A recent Fox News Digital freedom of information request failed to produce records from New Kent County prosecutors – as the office returned a notification that they could not be produced due to a Virginia State Code listing that referenced ongoing criminal investigation.
Jones also faced scrutiny for texting Del. Carrie Coyner, R-Hopewell, that he would prefer former House Speaker Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah, to be shot twice in the head than any bullets be saved for former German Chancellor Adolf Hitler or Cambodian leader Pol Pot.
His campaign also received an infusion of cash following the scandal from the PAC aligned with Democratic attorneys general.
At his debate with Miyares at the University of Richmond, Jones notably name-checked or referenced President Donald Trump about 50 times, as he painted the Republican as more interested in defending the White House than the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Jones was seen as the least likely of the three Democratic statewide candidates to win, portending a good night for his party and a bad night for the GOP across the state.
Jones’ win also adds weight to the already overwhelming power wielded by the Hampton Roads and Tidewater area in the state government.
Jones hails from and represented Norfolk in the House, the current House Speaker, Don Scott Jr., is from Portsmouth, Senate President pro tempore L. Louise Lucas represents Portsmouth and Sen. Mamie Locke – the chamber’s campaign chief – is from Hampton.
Only Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell does not hail from that area – instead representing heavily-Democratic Washington, D.C. suburbs centered around George Washington’s Mount Vernon.
Republicans, now out of power, meanwhile will continue to have party leadership dotting the map from bustling Hanover and Henrico to the famed Trail of the Lonesome Pine in far southwestern Virginia.
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