Virginia Dem AG Candidate Cancels Fundraiser Amid Text Message Firestorm
“Jones had not held a public event since Friday night, when he answered questions from Tyler Englander at the Richmond ABC affiliate.”
Jay Jones, Virginia Democratic candidate for attorney general, has come under intense fire from conservative media outlets and Virginia Republicans since The National Review published text messages he sent in 2022 in which he fantasized about the violent deaths of former Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert (R) and his children.
Jones’s remarks are particularly chilling in light of last month’s political assassination of Charlie Kirk.
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
Numerous Republicans have called on Jones to withdraw from the race. President Donald Trump took aim at Jones in a weekend post on Truth Social:
It has just come out that the Radical Left Lunatic, Jay Jones, who is running against Jason Miyares, the GREAT Attorney General in Virginia, made SICK and DEMENTED jokes, if they were jokes at all, which were not funny, and that he wrote down and sent around to people, concerning the murdering of a Republican Legislator, his wife, and their children. Abigail Spanberger, who is running for Governor, is weak and ineffective, and refuses to acknowledge what this Lunatic has done. Even Democrats are saying it is “RESIGNATION FROM CAMPAIGN” TERRITORY. Democrat Jay Jones should drop out of the Race, IMMEDIATELY, and the People of Virginia must continue to have a GREAT Attorney General in Jason Miyares who, by the way, has my Complete and Total Endorsement — JASON WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!
But, so far, Democrats have stood by their candidate. Though many admitted the messages were violent and disturbing, few considered them sufficient grounds for Jones to drop out of the race.
If you rely on liberal-leaning media outlets for your news, you may not have heard this story at all. A Media Research Center analysis released Tuesday found that ABC, CBS, and PBS provided no coverage, while NBC devoted just 63 seconds to the controversy.
Nevertheless, in a sign that Jones may not be able to weather this storm, sources told Axios that his campaign has canceled a fundraiser scheduled for Thursday night at the home of novelist David Baldacci.
Axios reported:
The scrubbed fundraiser is another indication that Jones’ campaign is in crisis mode.
…
Jones had not held a public event since Friday night, when he answered questions from Tyler Englander at the Richmond ABC affiliate. “The rhetoric has no place on our landscape,” he said.
Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA) was also scheduled to attend the Thursday night fundraiser. Kaine told reporters on Tuesday that he is “still a supporter,” while calling Jones’ comments “indefensible.” He also noted that “Jay has apologized.”
Democratic donors received a memo from the Jones campaign that their donations would be refunded for the canceled fundraising, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Early in-person voting for the Virginia general election began on September 19, nearly three weeks ago. Axios notes that at this late date, “many Democrats don’t think that convincing Jones to drop out is a viable option.”
Although it’s unclear why Jones canceled the fundraiser, it certainly does not bode well for his campaign.
A Christopher Newport University poll released in late September (before the scandal erupted) showed Jones ahead of his opponent, current Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares 49% to 43%.
Elizabeth writes commentary for Legal Insurrection and The Washington Examiner. She is an academy fellow at The Heritage Foundation. Please follow Elizabeth on X or LinkedIn.
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Comments
Maybe Soros and Antifa gave him all the money he needs.
He doesn’t need more money at this point. His best strategy is to lie low and hope that Spanberger drags the whole ticket across the finish line. He is still favored to win the election and most people vote straight partisan tickets.
That Spanberger is still supporting him should make that straight ticket switch sides or at least not vote.,
I know it won’t. It might encourage some of them but it should.
I’m so old I can remember when we were told that “words are violence.” Not metaphorical violence, mind you, but *actual* violence.
Sticks and stones can break your bones . . .
But it is the Democrats who REALLY want to hurt you.
“many Democrats don’t think that convincing Jones to drop out is a viable option.”
Why, did Lautenburg die?
Even if VA state rules allowed the Dems to substitute a new name on the ballot from now on, the votes already cast for Jones would be lost. From their POV their best bet is for him to promise that if he wins he will resign before being sworn in, so the incoming legislature can appoint his successor.
Another good reason for Election Day.
They think their best bet is to wait for him to win and then ignore the fact that he is a jerk. I think they are probably correct.
This dude is the epitome of the modern leftist wokiesta. He had several opportunities to offramp but chose to keep insisting that violence against not just political opponents but their families was totes OK. The rino/squishy and/or country club GoP folks need to get it through their heads that our opponents don’t care about the ‘tone’ of our delivery. Same for the hand wringing of Indy voters or casual voters. Anyone who wants to demand ‘civility’ or is worried about tone policing who isn’t jumping feet first down this guy’s throat 24/7 can go ahead and openly join our opponents instead of pretending they are actually on the center/right.
For all states, there should not be any contributions allowed to a campaign from outside the state where the election was being held. Back when I lived in Oklahoma, businesses could not contribute to a campaign at all and donations for state races were limited. Lot cleaner elections that way.
That would be unconstitutional.
Citizens United decision killed that. It’s good and it’s bad. For example, I can donate to Winsome Earle-Sears and Brandon Herrera. On the other hand, George Soros can pay the salaries of ten public officials in each of nine states.
There are already laws that contributions cannot come from out of the country. The Obama campaign ignored them, by making sure ActBlue didn’t collect that indicator on credit card information.
Using the “smurfing” tactic, dark money sources can launder a huge contribution from anywhere they want through the names of hundreds of oblivious citizens of whatever state they choose.
The only way Jones will drop out is if his poll numbers crater (see: Biden*) so that his Communist Party forces him out.
It is too late to take him off the ballot. If he drops out, a special election must be held if he wins.
No, it wouldn’t; the legislature would elect his replacement.
I hope he stays in so we can keep beating him and all the stupid democrats (like Kaine) who support him like piñatas.
Why do you think Trump said he should drop out?
It’s a typical Trump kneejerk reaction, He has said similar things to needle democrats in the past,
Stop early voting. For reasons just like this, and dozens of others.
Reminds me of the Free Palestine Hamas kids that are for murder but are totally disconnected from reality.
One thing I’ve seen no media comment about; Jones’ so-called “apology” was made three years after his comment and only in the context of his campaign. Obviously phony!
To misquote Asimov, apology is the last refuge of the undesirable.
he is only saying what the lefty is actually doing