2025 Virginia Attorney General election

Last updated

2025 Virginia Attorney General election
Flag of Virginia.svg
  2021 November 4, 2025 (2025-11-04)2029 
  Attorney General Jason Miyares (cropped1).jpg Jay Jone Speaks at rally in Fairfax City (cropped) (cropped).png
Nominee Jason Miyares Jay Jones
Party Republican Democratic

2025 Virginia attorney general election results map by county and independent city.svg

Incumbent Attorney General

Jason Miyares
Republican



The 2025 Virginia Attorney General election will be held on November 4, 2025, to elect the attorney general of Virginia. The incumbent Republican attorney general, Jason Miyares, is running for re-election. The in-person early voting period runs from September 19 to November 1, 2025. [1]

Contents

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

Endorsements

Jason Miyares

Statewide officials

Democratic primary

Teo Armus of The Washington Post described the primary as a proxy battle between Dominion Energy and Clean Virginia, an environmental group meant to counter Dominion's influence in Virginia elections. Shannon Taylor received over $800,000 from Dominion, its largest ever contribution in a single race. [4] Jay Jones received $579,000 from Clean Virginia. [5]

Candidates

Nominee

Eliminated in primary

Declined

  • Steve Descano, Fairfax County Commonwealth's Attorney (2020–present) (endorsed Jones) [8]

Endorsements

Jay Jones
U.S. Senators
U.S. Representatives
Statewide officials
State legislators
Local officials
Organizations
Shannon Taylor
Statewide officials
State legislators
Labor unions
Organizations

Polling

Poll sourceDate(s)
administered
Sample
size [a]
Margin
of error
Jay
Jones
Shannon
Taylor
Undecided
Global Strategy Group (D) [22] [A] March 11–13, 2025600 (LV)± 4.0%15%25%60%

Results

Results by county and independent city:
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Jones
50-60%
60-70%
70-80%
Taylor
50-60%
60-70%
Tie
50% 2025 Virginia Democratic attorney general primary election results map by county.svg
Results by county and independent city:
  Jones
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  •   70–80%
  Taylor
  •   50–60%
  •   60–70%
  Tie
  •   50%
2025 Virginia Attorney General Democratic primary [23]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Democratic Jay Jones 252,976 51.11%
Democratic Shannon Taylor 241,96948.89%
Total votes494,945 100.00%

General election

Campaign

In October, a month before the election, a 2022 text conversation that Jay Jones had with Republican delegate Carrie Coyner following the death of former delegate Democrat Joe Johnson Jr. was made public by National Review . In the texts, Jones made disparaging remarks toward Republican members of the House, stating, "If those guys die before me I will go to their funerals to piss on their graves." Jones then followed up the remark by targeting then-Speaker of the House of Delegates Republican Todd Gilbert, giving a scenario in which Gilbert would be shot twice in the head. Jones said, "Three people, two bullets, Gilbert, Hitler, and Pol Pot. Gilbert gets two bullets to the head. Spoiler: put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people you know, and he receives both bullets every time." Jones would then take his remarks further, targeting Gilbert's children, wishing death upon them, and stating that Gilbert and his wife were "evil" and "breeding little fascists." [24] [25] [26] [27]

Jones has received bipartisan condemnation for his texts. His Democratic running mates Abigail Spanberger, for governor, and Ghazala Hashmi, for lieutenant governor, both issued statements condemning Jones. Spanberger stated that she had spoken with Jones regarding her "disgust". Meanwhile, Hashmi stated, "I condemn it at every turn, Jay must take accountability for the pain that his words have caused", along with U.S. Senator Mark Warner writing that Jones's comments are "appalling, unacceptable, and inconsistent with the person [he's] known." [28] Virginia Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell called the texts "a serious lapse in judgment that cannot be defended," while current Virginia House Speaker Don Scott condemned the remarks but stated that "we can't get distracted, because they want us to get distracted by the text message here or something else. Stay focused." [27] Republicans, including Governor Glenn Youngkin, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, and Vice President JD Vance, have called for Jones to withdraw from the race. [29] [30]

In Jones's initial statement following the publication, he accused his opponent of "dropping smears through Trump-controlled media organizations to assault my character and rescue his desperate campaign" and stated that his opponent "will continue to be accountable to Donald Trump, not the people of Virginia." [31] Prior to the article, it had come out that in the same year, Jones was charged with reckless driving after driving 116 miles per hour on Interstate 64 in New Kent County. Despite Virginia's mandatory one-year jail sentence for reckless driving, Jones was sentenced to 1,000 hours of community service, half of which he served working for his own PAC, Meet Our Moment, along with a $1,500 fine. [32] Jones would later issue a statement taking responsibility for the text messages and apologized to Gilbert and his family. [33]

Debates

There will be one streamed debate, on October 16, hosted by the University of Richmond. [34]

2025 Virginia attorney general debate
No.DateHostModeratorLink Republican Democratic
Key:
 P Participant  A Absent  N Not invited  I Invited  W  Withdrawn
Miyares*Jones
1October 16, 2025 Virginia Bar Association
University of Richmond
TBDII

Predictions

SourceRankingAs of
State Navigate [35] Likely D (flip)October 13, 2025
Sabato's Crystal Ball [36] Lean D (flip)August 21, 2025

Post-primary endorsements

Jason Miyares (R)
Federal officials
Statewide officials
State legislators
Local officials
Organizations
Jay Jones (D)
U.S. Senators
State legislators
Local officials
Organizations

Polling

Aggregate polls

Source of poll
aggregation
Dates
administered
Dates
updated
Jason
Miyares (R)
Jay
Jones (D)
Other/Undecided
[b]
Margin
RealClearPolitics [57] September 29 – October 10, 2025October 15, 202546.0%45.3%8.7%Miyares +0.7%
Decision Desk HQ [58] through October 15, 2025October 15, 202546.4%46.4%7.2%Tied
Average46.2%45.85%7.95%Miyares +0.35%
Poll sourceDate(s)
administered
Sample
size [a]
Margin
of error
Jason
Miyares (R)
Jay
Jones (D)
OtherUndecided
The Trafalgar Group (R) [59] October 8–10, 20251,034 (LV)± 2.9%49%43%8%
Cygnal (R) [60] [B] October 6–7, 2025600 (LV)± 4.0%46%44%10%
Hart Research (D) [61] [C] October 4–6, 2025600 (LV)45%46%9%
October 3, 2025Jay Jones text messages leak
Christopher Newport University [62] September 29 – October 1, 2025805 (RV)± 3.9%43%49%8%
The Trafalgar Group (R) [63] September 29 – October 1, 20251,034 (LV)± 2.9%45%49%6%
The Washington Post/Schar School [64] September 25–29, 20251,002 (LV)± 3.4%45%51%1% [c] 3%
1,002 (RV)42%48%6% [d] 3%
A2 Insights [65] September 16–28, 2025771 (LV)46%49%1% [e] 5%
OnMessage Inc. (R) [66] September 15–18, 2025800 (V)± 3.5%46%46%8%
Christopher Newport University [67] September 8–14, 2025808 (RV)± 3.9%41%48%12%
Cygnal (R) [60] [B] September 7, 202543%46%11%
Virginia Commonwealth University [68] August 18–28, 2025804 (A)± 4.1%41%47%12%
SoCal Strategies (R) [69] [D] August 31 – September 1, 2025700 (LV)41%46%12%
co/efficient (R) [70] August 23–26, 20251,025 (LV)± 3.06%44%45%11%
Roanoke College [71] [72] August 11–15, 2025702 (LV)± 4.3%38%41%21%
Wick Insights [73] July 9–11, 20251,000 (LV)± 3.0%41%48%11%
American Directions Research Group/AARP [74] June 25 – July 8, 20251,001 (LV)± 3.1%36%53%11%
Virginia Commonwealth University [75] June 19 – July 3, 2025764 (RV)± 4.2%37%46%3% [f] 13%
Hypothetical polling

Jason Miyares vs. Generic Democrat

Poll sourceDate(s)
administered
Sample
size [a]
Margin
of error
Jason
Miyares (R)
Generic
Democrat
Undecided
co/efficient (R) [76] [E] June 8–10, 20251,127 (LV)± 3.1%44%44%12%

Results

2025 Virginia Attorney General general election [77]
PartyCandidateVotes%
Republican Jason Miyares (incumbent)
Democratic Jay Jones
Write-in
Total votes

By county and independent city

Locality [78] Jason Miyares
Republican
Jay Jones
Democratic
Write-in
Various
MarginTotal votes cast
#%#%#%#%
Accomack
Albemarle
Alexandria
Alleghany
Amelia
Amherst
Appomattox
Arlington
Augusta
Bath
Bedford
Bland
Botetourt
Bristol
Brunswick
Buchanan
Buckingham
Buena Vista
Campbell
Caroline
Carroll
Charles City
Charlotte
Charlottesville
Chesapeake
Chesterfield
Clarke
Colonial Heights
Covington
Craig
Culpeper
Cumberland
Danville
Dickenson
Dinwiddie
Emporia
Essex
Fairfax City
Fairfax County
Falls Church
Fauquier
Floyd
Fluvanna
Franklin City
Franklin County
Frederick
Fredericksburg
Galax
Giles
Gloucester
Goochland
Grayson
Greene
Greensville
Halifax
Hampton
Hanover
Harrisonburg
Henrico
Henry
Highland
Hopewell
Isle of Wight
James City
King and Queen
King George
King William
Lancaster
Lee
Lexington
Loudoun
Louisa
Lunenburg
Lynchburg
Madison
Manassas
Manassas Park
Martinsville
Mathews
Mecklenburg
Middlesex
Montgomery
Nelson
New Kent
Newport News
Norfolk
Northampton
Northumberland
Norton
Nottoway
Orange
Page
Patrick
Petersburg
Pittsylvania
Poquoson
Portsmouth
Powhatan
Prince Edward
Prince George
Prince William
Pulaski
Radford
Rappahannock
Richmond City
Richmond County
Roanoke City
Roanoke County
Rockbridge
Rockingham
Russell
Salem
Scott
Shenandoah
Smyth
Southampton
Spotsylvania
Stafford
Staunton
Suffolk
Surry
Sussex
Tazewell
Virginia Beach
Warren
Washington
Waynesboro
Westmoreland
Williamsburg
Winchester
Wise
Wythe
York
Totals

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Key:
    A – all adults
    RV – registered voters
    LV – likely voters
    V – unclear
  2. Calculated by taking the difference of 100% and all other candidates combined.
  3. "None of these" with 1%
  4. "Neither" with 4%; "Would not vote" with 2%
  5. "Other" with 1%
  6. "Wouldn't vote" with 2%, "Refused" with 1%, and "Someone else" with 0%

Partisan clients

  1. Poll sponsored by Taylor's campaign
  2. 1 2 Poll commissioned by the Republican Attorneys General Association, which supports Miyares
  3. Poll sponsored by Jones's campaign
  4. Poll sponsored by the Virginia Project
  5. Poll sponsored by Founders Insight

References

  1. "Upcoming Elections". Virginia Department of Elections. Retrieved September 10, 2025.
  2. Chen, Anna (April 3, 2025). "Republican Party of Virginia nominates Jason Miyares for Attorney General of Virginia". WJHL .
  3. Diaz, Olivia (November 18, 2024). "Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares will seek reelection, quelling talk of a gubernatorial bid". Associated Press. Retrieved November 18, 2024.
  4. Armus, Teo (June 18, 2025). "Analysis | 5 takeaways from Virginia's primary election results". The Washington Post. ISSN   0190-8286. Archived from the original on June 18, 2025. Retrieved June 18, 2025.
  5. Sledge, Matt (June 14, 2025). "Virginia AG Hopeful Was Outraising His Rival — Then Dominion Energy Tipped the Scale". The Intercept. Retrieved July 8, 2025.
  6. Mirshahi, Dean (November 12, 2024). "Former Delegate Jay Jones launches bid for Virginia attorney general". WRIC-TV . Retrieved November 12, 2024.
  7. Mirshahi, Dean (June 19, 2024). "Henrico's top prosecutor Shannon Taylor kicks off 2025 Virginia attorney general run". WRIC-TV . Retrieved June 20, 2024.
  8. 1 2 Jarvis, Brandon (May 6, 2024). "Descano opts to endorse Jones instead of running for attorney general". Virginia Scope.
  9. Manchester, Julia (June 3, 2025). "Booker wades into Virginia attorney general race". The Hill. Retrieved September 25, 2025.
  10. "Thursday News: Youngkin's Buddy Kari Lake Turns VOA Into Far-Right-Propaganda Network; "Trump picks conspiracy theorist with no medical license" for Surgeon General; "GOP Plans To Cut Medicaid Would Kick Millions Off Health Insurance"; "Salacious Saga…revealed a stunning lack of political juice from Mr. Youngkin"". May 8, 2025. Retrieved May 8, 2025.
  11. 1 2 Jarvis, Brandon (May 8, 2025). "Rep. Scott endorses Jay Jones in the AG primary". Virginia Political Newsletter. Retrieved September 25, 2025.
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  26. Bryson, Anna (October 3, 2025). "In 2022, Jay Jones texted about shooting House Speaker Todd Gilbert". Richmond Times-Dispatch . Archived from the original on October 3, 2025. Retrieved October 4, 2025.
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  30. Mike Bedigan (October 4, 2025). "JD Vance piles on Democratic candidate who likened rival to Hitler and said he should be shot". The Independent .
  31. Charles Creitz (October 3, 2025). "Virginia AG candidate once referenced putting 'two bullets to the head' of GOP leader, texts show". Fox News . Retrieved October 4, 2025.
  32. Anna Young (October 1, 2025). "Dem Virginia AG candidate Jay Jones dodged jail for reckless driving with 500 community service hours at his own PAC: report". New York Post . Retrieved October 4, 2025.
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  40. It was a great pleasure to headline an event for my friend, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares. – Larry Hogan via Facebook.
  41. Jason Miyares Fundraiser with Larry Hogan. – Fairfax GOP.
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  46. "NRA's Political Victory Fund Endorses Lieutenant Governor Winsome Sears, Attorney General Jason Miyares and John Reid". NRA-PVF. August 6, 2025. Retrieved August 19, 2025.
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  51. "End Citizens United Endorses Jay Jones for Virginia Attorney General". endcitizensunited.org. August 11, 2025. Retrieved September 8, 2025.
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  54. "🚨Key Endorsements for 2025 & 2026🚨". Jewish Democratic Council of America. Retrieved August 28, 2025.
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Official campaign websites