October surprise! Anyone familiar with politics knows the phrase. It refers to a news event or scandal that happens in the weeks leading up to early November that could affect the outcome of an election. In Virginia, we have an election every year, but this year, the statewide races — governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general — are at the top of our ballots.
The candidates for these races are Republican Winsome Earle-Sears and Democrat Abigail Spanberger for governor. For lieutenant governor: Republican John Reid, who will speak at Washington and Lee on Oct. 20, and Democrat Ghazala Hashmi. And for attorney general: Republican Jason Miyares and Democrat Jay Jones, who has been the subject of numerous campaign-damaging October surprises over the past few weeks.
Jones is a private attorney and former Virginia House of Delegates member who represented areas in and around Norfolk. This is his second run for attorney general; he first ran in the 2021 Democratic primary, which he lost. In this year’s Democratic primary, he won with a slim majority over Henrico County Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor.
Since the beginning of October, however, some Virginia Democratic voters have come to severely regret supporting Jones, even if they haven’t said it aloud, according to the Washington Post.
On Oct. 3, news broke that in 2022, Jones sent a series of text messages to fellow delegate Republican Carrie Coyner, in which he fantasized about shooting and killing former Speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates Republican Todd Gilbert and his young children. In the messages, Jones compared Gilbert to Adolf Hitler and Pol Pot, saying, “Three people. Two bullets. Gilbert gets two bullets to the head.”
Acccording to the National Review, Jones also called Gilbert and his wife, Jennifer, “evil” and accused them of “breeding little fascists,” referring to their elementary-aged sons. He wrote that if the Gilberts died before him, he would “go to their funerals to piss on their graves.” Coyner repeatedly asked Jones to stop, which he did not; he even called her after sending the messages to “explain his reasoning.”
In that phone call, confirmed by the National Review, Jones said, “The only way public policy changes is when policymakers feel pain themselves, like the pain that parents feel when they watch their children die from gun violence.” Coyner, allegedly disgusted by Jones’ remarks both over the phone and in texts, ended the call after Jones suggested that he also wished Gilbert’s wife could watch her sons die in her arms so her husband might reconsider his political views.
These messages and the subsequent phone call are disgusting but not surprising coming from Jones. He has a history of disregarding the people around him, especially those who disagree with him. In the aftermath, the response from Virginia Democratic leaders has been disappointing.
Not a single Virginia Democrat has called for Jones to step down. Regional Democratic committees have even reiterated their support. My hometown of Virginia Beach’s Democratic Committee issued a statement saying they were still “ten toes down” for Jones. Locally, the Lexington-Rockbridge-Buena Vista Democratic Committee was reposting videos supporting Jones as recently as last Thursday. None of these statements acknowledge the grim fact that Jones fantasized about murdering a fellow lawmaker and his children. There is a political blindness that has overtaken Virginia Democrats this cycle.
In fact, more negative emotion has been directed toward Coyner for being the recipient of Jones’ violent texts than toward Jones for sending them.
On Oct. 5, current House of Delegates Speaker Don Scott, a Democrat, spoke at a Baptist church in Coyners’ district. In the speech, he called Coyner a betrayer of “the agenda that we’ve tried to move forward for us” and labeled her an extremist — a stretch, to say the least. He referred to the messages in which Jones fantasized about Gilbert and his children being murdered as just a “distraction.” During this scandal, Scott has spent more time criticizing Coyner than Jones.
In response, Coyner said, “I know that [Don Scott] is not happy about this information coming out.” She also noted that Scott had not been in her district recently, suggesting his criticism is retaliation for authenticating the texts.
This appears to be the case after a video campaign advertisement was released Oct. 14 by Coyner’s opponent, in which Scott repeats the “betrayer” label. Since the start of Jones’s candidacy, political action committees affiliated with Scott have given over $100,000 directly to Jones’ campaign. Scott has a vested interest in Jones politically and financially, making retaliation plausible.
The 2022 texts and phone call to Coyner aren’t Jones’ only alarming communications with her. Coyner alleges that during a 2020 call about qualified immunity — the legal protection for police officers against personal liability while on duty — Jones said, “if a few [police officers] died, they would move on, not shooting people, not killing people.” Jones later sponsored legislation attempting to remove qualified immunity for police.
Jones denies making these comments, but they match his history of violent rhetoric. Coyner is one of the most moderate members of the House and consistently crosses party lines. She did not leak the original texts but confirmed them when pressed by the media.
Some voters have been repulsed by Jones’ words, but his actions raise equal concern.
In 2022, Jones was pulled over in New Kent County for driving 116 mph in a 70 mph zone. He was convicted of reckless driving, which carries a maximum penalty of a year in jail and a $2,500 fine. According to Restoration News, Jones’ attorney deferred the case six times before the court eventually heard it in 2024, allowing him to perform community service instead of serving jail time. The six deferments lasted nearly two years and allowed Jones to report 1,000 volunteer hours.
Other reckless driving cases in the same county, some less severe, resulted in harsher punishments, including suspended licenses, larger fines and jail time. Jones was sentenced only to a $1,500 fine, and his 1,000 hours of community service were accepted instead of jail.
Questions arise about the legitimacy of his service. Jones split the hours between the NAACP Virginia State Conference and the political action committee Meet Our Moment. While the NAACP is a nonprofit, Jones represented them in court through his firm Hogan Lovells in a lawsuit against Gov. Glenn Youngkin the same year. New Kent County Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Randy Del Rossi noted that community service should be “unpaid service for any non-political, charitable nonprofit.”
Moreover, questions have been raised about whether Jones was actually paid for his work in court. On his now-deleted LinkedIn page, Jones listed himself as a senior associate at Hogan Lovells for all of 2023. I don’t believe it’s possible that Jones was able to serve in that capacity, either completely unpaid or on top of 500 hours of unpaid labor for the NAACP. Representing the NAACP in court is professional legal work, not volunteer service.
Also, in October 2023, Hogan Lovells submitted a petition to the court to “seek recovery of their attorney fees.” On this petition, Jones is listed as a “senior associate.” This further clouds the question of whether Jones was actually paid for his work with the NAACP.
The other organization, Meet Our Moment, is expressly political. It trains racial minorities interested in running for office as Democrats and was founded by Jones in 2021. Rossi confirmed that “Jay Jones did not have permission to complete community service with a political organization,” making at least half of his reported hours null and void.
Furthermore, the woman who signed off on Jones’ service for Meet Our Moment, Lesley Shinbaum Stewart, received $74,440 from Jones’ campaign for consulting services from 2019 to 2023 and continued to receive payments for financial services as recently as August. How this passed through the court system unscrutinized is unclear.
I will note that Jones’ father, who passed in 2025, was a well-known Circuit Court judge in Virginia during the time of Jones’ traffic case.
Between the six court delays, fraudulent community service, and a lenient sentence, Jones has shown little respect for the law. For someone running to be attorney general, his record with the legal system is deeply flawed.
If the roles were reversed and a Republican had done these things, I would call for them to step down. This time, however, Virginia Democrats have failed to put people above party.
Virginia is a purple state. Voters care about their fellow citizens, not scoring partisan victories. Virginians are not extremists who blindly follow party lines — but Virginia Democrats seem to have forgotten this.
I am ashamed of politicians and Democratic leaders in Virginia Beach who have chosen party over people. Moving forward, their opinions on important matters will hold less weight, and they shouldn’t be surprised if they receive less support because of backing Jay Jones.
Our republic is not a sinking ship that requires going down with your party. We have the right to choose the most fit candidate. Jones is not fit to serve as attorney general or in any position of leadership. Nothing he did was “just” a lapse in judgment; it reveals his true character.
Jones has fantasized about killing lawmakers and their children, manipulated the court system with fraudulent community service, expressed a desire for police officers to be killed, and allowed retaliation against a fellow delegate who held him accountable.
On Nov. 4, Virginians should reject Jay Jones at the ballot box and send a message to Richmond: we will not elect candidates who believe they are above the law and basic standards of decency.
Virginia deserves better than Jay Jones.
