Politics

Text scandal gives GOP the edge in Virginia AG race

It undermined Democrats’ built-in advantages in the state.
Democrat Jay Jones, left, and Republican incumbent Jason Miyares shake hands at the start of the Virginia attorney general debate in Richmond, Va., Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025. (Mike Kropf/Richmond Times-Dispatch via AP, Pool)

Virginia Republicans are eyeing the attorney general’s race as their best chance of retaining a statewide office in next week’s general election, after weeks of damaging headlines about the Democratic nominee’s years-old musings about a former state House speaker’s death. 

Polls show that Attorney General Jason Miyares (R) pulled ahead of his scandal-plagued challenger, former Del. Jay Jones (D), early this month after the news broke about texts Jones sent in 2022.

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