Topline
Virginia’s Democratic nominee for attorney general, Jay Jones, wrote about shooting the state’s former Republican house speaker in a series of resurfaced text messages—revelations that could impact the state’s gubernatorial election that’s seen as a national bellwether.
Jay Jones addresses supporters after winning the Democratic nomination for Virginia Attorney General as wife Mavis Jones looks on in Norfolk, Virginia, on June 17, 2025. (Trevor Metcalfe/The Virginian-Pilot/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
TNS
Key Facts
Jones wrote about hypothetically shooting Virginia’s former Republican Speaker of the House Todd Gilbert, writing to Republican state Delegate Carrie Coyner in 2022, “put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people you know and he receives both bullets every time,” multiple outlets reported.
Jones apologized to Gilbert and his family in a statement to multiple outlets and said he is “embarrassed, ashamed, and sorry.”
The comments sparked bipartisan backlash and calls for Jones to step aside in the race, including from Vice President JD Vance, who wrote in a post on X “I’m sure the people hyperventilating about sombrero memes will join me in calling for this very deranged person to drop out of the race,” referring to backlash to memes President Donald Trump posted depicting House Speaker Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., wearing a sombrero.
Virginia’s Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Republican gubernatorial candidate, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, have called on Virginia’s Democratic gubernatorial nominee, former Rep. Abigail Spanberger, to push Jones to drop out of the race.
Spanberger urged Jones to “take responsibility for his words” and said she would “always condemn violent language in our politics” in a statement to Politico, but stopped short of calling on him to exit the race.
Big Number
12. That’s the number of points Spanberger leads Earle-Sears by in a Washington Post-Schar School poll of 1,002 Virginia likely voters conducted Sept. 25-29 (margin of error 3.4).
Key Background
Virginia’s off-year elections are considered a bellwether for national politics as it’s one of the first states to hold competitive races after a presidential election year and before midterms. Jones’ comments come as Republicans have blamed the “radical left” as the prominent source of political violence in the U.S., despite multiple recent attacks on Democrats. Earle-Sears called Jones’ comments “a symptom of the entire Democratic Party” in a post on X.
Further Reading
Virginia AG candidate faces bipartisan backlash over violent, inflammatory text messages (CBS)
Democratic candidate’s ‘abhorrent’ texts threaten to shake up bellwether Virginia elections (Politico)
Virginia’s Democratic nominee for attorney general facing pressure over resurfaced text messages (CNN)
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