Leaked text messages sent by Democratic Virginia attorney general candidate Jay Jones have upended the state’s off-year elections as he is now facing growing pressure to drop out of the race after texts suggesting a former Virginia House speaker should receive “two bullets to the head” were made public.
Newsweek has reached out to Jones’ campaign for comment via email.
Why It Matters
Virginia’s elections are key bellwethers for the mood of the country ahead of the midterms when Democrats are hoping to unseat Republicans in key races across the country. Currently, Republicans control the White House, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives. Typically, the party outside of the White House fares well in these elections—Democrats won in 2017, while Republicans won in 2021.
However, Jones’ text message scandal could become a new challenge for Democrats in Virginia with just about one month left until Election Day. The text messages have drawn bipartisan backlash, and Republicans are aiming to tie other Democrats, such as former Representative Abigail Spanberger in the gubernatorial race, to Jones.
Jay Jones’ Text Messages Revealed
According to the National Review, Jones wrote in a 2022 text message to Republican Delegate Carrie Coyner, “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.”
He was reportedly referring to former Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates Todd Gilbert, a Republican, according to the publication.
Coyner responded asking him to “please stop,” to which he responded, “Lol Ok, ok,” according to National Review.
The texts were first reported by National Review and viewed by The Washington Post. Newsweek has not independently verified the messages, but Jones has not questioned their veracity and has apologized for them.
“I sincerely, from the bottom of my heart, want to express my remorse and my regret for what happened and what I said,” Jones said in an interview with WRIC, a Richmond-based TV news outlet. “That language has no place in our discourse, and I am so remorseful for what happened.”
He said he reached out to Gilbert to apologize and added that he is “deeply, deeply embarrassed.”
The National Review also reported that in a follow-up phone call to Coyner in 2022, Jones said Gilbert’s wife could see her child die so her husband could reconsider his political views when talking about gun violence. When asked by WRIC if he said that, Jones responded, “Bottom line is that the language is unacceptable, and I deeply, deeply, deeply wish that it hadn’t happened.”
“I have spent the entire day really regretting all of it, certainly wish it hadn’t happened,” he added. “I’m sick to my stomach when I read those words. Certainly they’re objectionable, they’re abhorrent. They have no place in Virginia, no place in this country’s discourse. I am so deeply, deeply sorry.”
Who Is Jay Jones?
Jones is an attorney who served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 2018 to 2022. He previously ran for attorney general in 2021, losing to Democrat Mark Herring, who ended up losing in the general election.
He narrowly defeated Democrat Shannon Taylor, a Henrico County prosecutor, in the 2025 attorney general primary. Public polls have pointed to a close race for Jones prior to the scandal.
Will Jay Jones Controversy Sink Democratic Campaigns? Expert Weighs In
The impact of the scandal on the election may be hard to predict as it is always hard to predict turnout in the state’s off-year elections, Alex Keena, associate professor of political science at Virginia Commonwealth University, told Newsweek on Monday.
On one hand, those who participate in the elections tend to be older, highly engaged and closely connected to a political party—and those voters are unlikely to be swayed by the scandal, he said. Historical trends would also suggest Democrats are at an advantage, as a Republican is in the White House.
“The big issue is that there isn’t a lot of certainty regarding who will show up,” Keena said. “That’s the wildcard in all of this.”
If voters who are less engaged end up heading to the polls, it would “clearly change the dynamic of the race,” he added.
Still, Keena said it could affect Jones’ chances, as he was always in a potentially more difficult race because he is the only statewide Democrat running against an incumbent, Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares, who is not term limited. He needed to distinguish himself, and this scandal does not help, he said.
It’s less likely to have an effect on the gubernatorial race, Keena concluded.
What People Are Saying
Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, wrote on X: “This violent, disgusting rhetoric targeted at an elected official and his children is beyond disqualifying. Jay Jones said that ‘Gilbert gets two bullets to the head’ and then hoped his children would die. Read those words again. There is no ‘gosh, I’m sorry’ here. Jones doesn’t have the morality or character to drop out of this race, and his running mates Abigail Spanberger, Ghazala Hashmi, and every elected Democrat in Virginia don’t have the courage to call on him to step away from this campaign in disgrace.”
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger wrote in a statement reported by The Richmonder: “After learning of these comments today, I spoke frankly with Jay about my disgust with what he had said and texted. I made clear to Jay that he must fully take responsibility for his words. What I have also made clear is that as a candidate—and as the next Governor over our Commonwealth, I will always condemn violent language in our politics.”
Attorney General Jason Miyares wrote to X: “Jay Jones wished for the violent death of a political opponent and then fantasized about that opponent’s children dying in their mother’s arms. When confronted, he doubled down, saying that kind of grief and pain would be a good thing if it advanced his politics. And politics aside, one has to be coming from a dark place to advocate the murder of a colleague and their family. This conduct is disqualifying.”
Vice President JD Vance on X: “The Democrat candidate for AG in Virginia has been fantasizing about murdering his political opponents in private messages.”
President Donald Trump on Truth Social: “Radical Left Lunatic, Jay Jones…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.”
What Happens Next?
The Virginia elections are set for November 4.
