New polling this week has revealed that high-profile statewide races in Virginia are currently tossups, including the contests for governor and attorney general. After Democrats held healthy leads earlier this year, a scandal has rocked the Commonwealth and put the election back in play for Republicans.
Polling companies Trafalgar Group and InsiderAdvantage surveyed likely general election voters in Virginia on who they would support in the governor, lieutenant governor, and attorney general races. In the gubernatorial election, former Democrat Rep. Abigail Spanberger had a slight lead over Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears at 47.5 percent to 45.3 percent – a statistical tie, with the poll having a 2.9 percent margin of error.
In the lieutenant governor’s race, Democrat state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi only led Republican candidate John Reid 46.2 percent to 46.1 percent – another statistical tie. Hashmi has notably refused to debate Reid, despite Reid proposing as many as 10 debates.
The attorney general race has flipped completely from just a few weeks ago, with Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares now leading former Del. Jay Jones 49.5 percent to 44.6 percent. Miyares is now a strong favorite to win the race, as Jones is embroiled in multiple scandals that have hampered his candidacy and now appear to be trickling up to the other Democrat candidates on the ticket.
Earlier this month, National Review revealed text messages from Jones to Republican Del. Carrie Coyner stating that he would like to “piss on the graves” of his Republican opponents and fantasizing about shooting former Republican Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert. He specifically stated that if he had two bullets and had a choice to shoot Gilbert, Adolf Hitler, or Pol Pot, Gilbert “receives both bullets.”
Despite pleas from Coyner to stop, Jones then stated that he hoped Gilbert’s children would die in their mother’s arms because “only when people feel pain personally do they move on policy.”
President Donald Trump published a statement on Truth Social about the scandal. “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,” the President said. He then called for Jones to drop out of the race.
Following the release of that story, Coyner alleged that Jones also told her over the phone that it would be a good thing if more police officers were killed in the line of duty because they would shoot fewer civilians. Multiple law enforcement groups have called on Jones to drop out of the race following those revelations.
Jones is also mired in controversy stemming from a 2022 reckless driving charge for speeding 116 mph down a Virginia freeway. Despite the fact that other Virginians received jail time for similar charges, Jones escaped with only community service. He then told the court that he performed 500 hours of community service in a single year to his own political action committee – an apparent ethical violation that he has yet to apologize for.
While InsiderAdvantage and Trafalgar Group are two of the most accurate pollsters, they are not the only polling groups showing Miyares in the lead. The polling group Cygnal had Miyares leading Jones last week in a poll 46 percent to 44 percent.
There is a real possibility that Jones is now dragging down the state’s other Democrat candidates. Spanberger led by as many as 12 points in some polls just before the Jay Jones text message scandal broke. In the two polls since that story went viral, she led by just three points – within the margin of error.
Miyares and Jones had their only scheduled debate this past Thursday. Jones apologized for his texts and stated that he was “ashamed’ and “embarrassed” – but stopped short of saying he would withdraw from the race. Jones tried to make the debate about Trump and attacked the President throughout the night. In return, Miyares hit Jones for being weak on crime and for his support for allowing biological men to compete in women’s sports. Miyares also hit Jones for his violent rhetoric.
“How can anybody who’s ever worked in any of the crimes against children, all of the areas of federal and state local law enforcement, how can they ever take you seriously, be the top prosecutor, knowing your view that children should die to advance a political agenda?” Miyares asked in the debate. “It’s unconscionable, and if you were truly sorry, you would not be running for this office because you disqualified yourself.”
As Miyares also noted, Jones has never tried a case in court and would likely not even be able to pass a background check to be a prosecutor.
Spanberger and Earle-Sears just had their only debate on October 9. Jones’ texts were a major topic of discussion there as well, with Spanberger refusing to say he should drop out of his race. Earle-Sears slammed Spanberger for her silence on the matter, asking her how she would feel if it were her children that Jones said he wished would die in her arms.
“That’s why I’m wondering why my opponent won’t say beyond it’s abhorrent and disgusting, why she won’t say it is not okay, and that he must leave the race because Jay Jones advocated the murder, Abigail, the murder of a man – a former speaker – as well as his children who are two and five years old,” Earle-Sears said. “You have little girls. Would it take him pulling the trigger? Is that what would do it and then you would say he needs to get out of the race, Abigail?”
With just over two weeks to go, Republicans appear to have all the momentum in the Old Dominion. The question now is – if the polls are accurate – whether the GOP candidates have enough time to fully close the gap that opened up this summer and emerge victorious on November 4.
Alan Jamison is the pen name of a political writer with extensive experience writing for several notable politicians and news outlets.
All three DIMM candidates, through words and actions, show that they are truly Modern Democrats who promote DEATH in all forms–abortion, euthanasia, crime, and drug abuse! How any SANE person could vote for them is beyond my comprehension!
It is stunning but tragically not surprising, that there are still crime-supporting, criminal-defending, moral-less Democrat voters who will still vote for EITHER of these three out-of-touch, no common sense Democrats.
Wise up VA voters.
Jones is not qualified to run for office. He is a sociopath who doesn’t even deserve to be a manager of a local SPCA complex. It’s amazing the goons that the Democrats run for political office. The Democrats chronically prove themselves to have more empathy for criminals than law abiding citizens. Jones should actually show his shame by dropping out of the political race.
Are these polls even accurate? How many liberals will answer enthusiastically to make sure the Dems look like they’re ahead in the polls?
As for myself, I refuse to answer these polls because I don’t trust the pollsters to not put my name on a list as a basket of deplorable Nazis. How many other conservatives remember that our political persuasion put us on watch lists during the President Autopen’s administration? I really do prefer my only opinion to be known on my anonymous election ballot.
That man running for Attorney General should never be allowed in any sort of office. I don’t care if he apologized. He showed his true colors. As far as Spanberger, she cannot say what she truly stands for. I hope the Republicans clean their clocks!!!!
I’m not a resident of Virginia although I lived there for a while but, if I were, there would be no question at to for whom I would vote…if “Semper fi” means anything (I’m an Army vet not Marine). From everything I’ve seen and read, Spanberger has managed to avoid commenting on anything of substance and done the “side-step” whenever cornered. Best of luck, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears.
If the Republicans win in Virginia, it will be the greatest come from behind victory of the decade.
We all know how degenerate the Democratic Party has become. All those radical Muslim women in Congress have those weak-kneed old pissants running for cover. So frightened of being primaried they would sell their souls to Satan himself and if you thought any of them had an ounce of integrity, look again at how they abandoned any shred of patriotism or love for America. They bow and scrape in obeisance to the bullies instead of standing up and protecting our principles. They make excuses for murdering their adversaries, they resort to name-calling like children instead of espousing new and appealing ideas. They believe the Communists are their new voting base. They’ve given up hope of competing with Republicans, so they’ve abandoned their role as an alternative for the American people. Now your choice is Republican or Communist-light!!
I hope Virginia wakes up to the bad actors in the Democratic Party that care only to push their power on others
God bless AMAC founded as pro american
People need to make better choices and the Dems running are not the right choice they need to vote Republican that right now is the way to go, look what they are doing in Washington right now, not even trying to open the government up. There is not need to give non citizens health care and free housing when so many are homeless that are citizens here and many citizens cannot afford healthcare now
MAGA ????????????