Democrat Jay Jones has won the election for Virginia attorney general, NBC News projects, overcoming a text message scandal that threatened to derail his candidacy in the final stretch of the race.
Jones defeated Republican Jason Miyares, the incumbent who served one term.
The typically low-profile race was thrust into the national spotlight after a series of violent text messages Jones sent in 2022 surfaced last month. In those texts, Jones suggested that then-Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert, a Republican, deserved “bullets to the head.” In the message, Jones wrote: “Three people, two bullets. Gilbert, hitler, and pol pot.”
“Gilbert gets two bullets to the head,” Jones said, according to the messages released by the Republican Attorneys General Association. “Spoiler: put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people you know and he receives both bullets every time.”
The messages, which were first reported by the National Review, prompted bipartisan backlash. Jones, a former state lawmaker, was not in office when he made the remarks, and he apologized to Gilbert and his family, saying in a statement, “Reading back those words made me sick to my stomach.”
“I am embarrassed, ashamed, and sorry,” he continued.
The messages came amid a national conversation about political violence and rhetoric after the assassinations of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman, a Democrat.
Republicans urged Jones to drop out of the race, while Democrats largely condemned the texts while stopping short of calling on him to end his campaign.
The NBC News Exit Poll showed the text messages were on the minds of Virginia voters. Forty-five percent said they disqualified Jones for the job of attorney general.
Miyares said in his concession speech that he wishes Jay Jones “the best in this new job.”
“I know, given the circumstances of last six weeks, many of my supporters will find that difficult,” he said. “The reason I wish Jay the best is because we, the people of Virginia, need it. We need an attorney general who will focus every day on keeping us safe.”
Jones said in his victory speech that he looked forward to sitting down with Miyares. He also thanked the outgoing attorney general “for his service to our commonwealth.”
The texts also became a focal point of the governor’s race, with Republican candidate Winsome Earle-Sears pressing Democratic candidate Abigail Spanberger to further reject Jones. Spanberger had said that when she learned about the messages, she “spoke frankly with Jay about my disgust with what he had said and texted” and “made clear to Jay that he must fully take responsibility for his words.” Spanberger did not call for Jones to exit the race and declined to say whether she had withdrawn her endorsement of him, saying at a debate that “it’s up to voters to make a choice based on this information.”
Spanberger’s comfortable victory over Earle-Sears in the governor’s race Tuesday appears to have helped drag Jones across the finish line. With an estimated 87% of the vote in, Spanberger led by more than 13 points, while Jones led by less than 5. The NBC News Exit Poll found that 9% of Spanberger voters backed Miyares.
Jones, 36, hammered a message in the blue-leaning state that Miyares would not stand up to President Donald Trump. Trump endorsed Miyares, but not Earle-Sears, in Virginia.
“I was held accountable,” Jones said at a debate last month. “But what we have here in Virginia right now is an attorney general who won’t hold the president accountable.”
Of the 49% of Virginia voters who strongly disapproved of the way Trump is handling his job as president, 91% voted for Jones, exit polls show.
In the hours before polls opened for Election Day, Trump urged Virginians during a tele-rally to back Miyares while notably not naming Earle-Sears.
“Get out and vote tomorrow for Jason Miyares, very — so important — and the Republicans up and down the ballot,” Trump said Monday night.
Miyares, 49, began his first term in 2022, having served in the Legislature. Jones previously was an assistant attorney general in D.C. and was a Virginia state representative.
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