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Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares and Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears delivered a blistering one-two punch this weekend, saying Democratic AG candidate Jay Jones has disqualified himself from office after texts emerged in which he wished for the death of a Republican rival’s children.
The coordinated condemnations marked the most aggressive escalation yet in a controversy that has thrown Virginia politics into a fever pitch heading into the nationally watched 2025 election.
“Jay Jones has shown he’s reckless, biased, and willing to trade away his integrity,” Miyares wrote in an open letter to Virginians, posted to social media late Saturday. “This conduct is disqualifying.”
Hours later, Sears took the stage to deliver remarks and accused Democrats of being “consumed with hate.”
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“The enemy is among us, devouring us in Virginia and in America today,” Sears said in a fiery speech. “Jay Jones fantasizes about murdered little children lying lifeless in their mother’s arms. And yet he runs for attorney general, our chief law enforcement officer.”
The uproar followed the publication of private 2022 text messages in which Jones, then a rising Democrat star, said he hoped former Republican House Speaker Todd Gilbert’s children would die. When challenged, Jones doubled down, saying that such grief might be “a good thing” if it advanced his politics.
Jones has since apologized, calling the remarks “embarrassing and shameful,” and said he had reached out personally to Gilbert and his family.
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But Virginia Republicans said the damage is irreversible. Miyares, who has served as attorney general since 2022, wrote that as a prosecutor he has “sat with crying victims and grieving families” and heard “the cries of a parent who has lost a child.” He said no one, “least of all a candidate for Virginia’s top law-enforcement office, should ever treat such pain as a political tool.”
Miyares’ letter put the race’s stakes in plain language. “If you believe it is okay to wish death upon a political opponent — vote for my opponent,” he wrote. “If you believe it is worth the death of children to advance your political goals — vote for my opponent. If you want to give a green light to violent lunatics — vote for my opponent.”
The attorney general said his own oath of office obligates him to protect every Virginian, “regardless of whether they are a Democrat or Republican.” He added: “I cannot imagine someone running for this job who advocates for violence.”
Sears broadened her criticism beyond Jones, tying his comments to a culture of what she called Democrat “rage politics.”
“The leadership of the Democrat Party is inciting violence as a strategy to win power,” Sears said. She noted that gubernatorial candidate Rep. Abigail Spanberger urged her supporters to “let your rage fill you.”
“Well, words have meaning,” Sears continued. “Rage is defined as violent, uncontrolled anger.” She warned Virginians to take notice, citing past threats and attacks on Republicans nationwide, from the 2022 attempt on Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s life to school shootings targeting Christians.
“The unstable pull the triggers,” Sears added, “but they are inspired by the hate tolerated and encouraged by the leadership of the Democrat Party.”
Both Republicans framed the controversy as a turning point in the 2025 election.
“Prior to this week, this race was about competing views on public safety,” Miyares wrote. “Now it’s about basic fitness for public office.”
Sears closed her speech with a plea for unity and faith: “As an immigrant, I have seen what happens when leftists destroy the foundations of freedom.”
“Let each of us act to protect our beloved Commonwealth of Virginia and the gift from God that is the United States of America,” Sears concluded.
Fox News Digital did not receive responses on requests for comment from Sears, Miyares or Jones at the time of publication.
Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman, Danielle Wallace and Charles Creitz contributed to this report.
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