Trump-Endorsed Attorney General Jason Miyares Surges Ahead in Virginia as Democrat Opponent Implodes Over Violent Texts

President Donald Trump’s endorsement power continues to shape key battleground contests — and the latest numbers out of Virginia prove it.

According to a new Quantus Insights poll released Monday, Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares has opened up a seven-point lead (49–42) over his Democrat challenger, Jay Jones, in a race that has suddenly become one of the most explosive in the nation. Only seven percent remain undecided, with two percent opting for other candidates.

The development marks a dramatic shift in momentum — and it comes just weeks after shocking revelations about Jones’s violent private messages surfaced, igniting political outrage across Virginia.

A Disturbing Revelation

Earlier this month, screenshots of three-year-old text messages between Jones and then-Delegate Carrie Coyner (R–Chesterfield) surfaced, showing the Democrat fantasizing about the execution of then–House Speaker Todd Gilbert and the murder of his children.

As The Virginia Monitor reported:

“The National Review story revealed an August 2022 exchange between Jones — a former Norfolk delegate and one-time assistant attorney general — and Del. Carrie Coyner, R-Chesterfield. In the texts, Jones described a scenario in which Gilbert ‘gets two bullets to the head,’ followed by a wish that the Republican lawmaker’s children ‘die in their mother’s arms.’”

Coyner confirmed the authenticity of the messages, calling them “disgusting and unbecoming of any public official.”

“On August 8, 2022 I had a text conversation with Jay Jones,” Coyner said. “What he said was not just disturbing but disqualifying for anyone who wants to seek public office. Jay Jones wished violence on the children of a colleague and joked about shooting Todd Gilbert.”

Miyares Responds: ‘Darkness That Disqualifies’

The disclosure instantly upended the race, forcing Miyares to address the scandal head-on in a press conference in Richmond.

“The attorney general is the chief law enforcement officer of Virginia,” Miyares said. “It must be done with character and integrity. Jay Jones has proven he is reckless, biased, and willing to trade away his integrity. This conduct is disqualifying.”

Miyares — a career prosecutor who has “sat with crying victims” of violent crime — condemned the Democrat’s remarks as “the kind of darkness that disqualifies anyone from holding public office.”

Virginia Republicans Unite in Outrage

The controversy quickly united Virginia’s top Republican leaders.

Governor Glenn Youngkin blasted Jones on X, writing:

“Jay Jones said that ‘Gilbert gets two bullets to the head’ and then hoped his children would die. There is no ‘gosh, I’m sorry’ here. Jones doesn’t have the morality or character to drop out of this race.”

Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, now running for governor, drew a direct line between Jones and the broader Democratic establishment.

“Jay Jones is the poster child for the Democrat establishment and he fantasizes about murdered little children laying lifeless in their mother’s arms,” she said. “My opponent Abigail Spanberger urges her supporters to fill their hearts with violent hate. ‘Let your rage fuel you,’ she says. Words have meaning.”

White House Condemnation

Even the White House weighed in. President Donald Trump denounced Jones’s comments on Truth Social, calling him a “Radical Left Lunatic.”

“The Radical Left Lunatic, Jay Jones,” Trump wrote, “who is running against the GREAT Attorney General in Virginia, Jason Miyares, had made SICK and DEMENTED jokes, if they were jokes at all, about the murdering of a Republican Legislator, his wife, and their children.”

Vice President JD Vance echoed the President’s outrage:

“The Democrat candidate for AG in Virginia has been fantasizing about murdering his political opponents. I’m sure the people hyperventilating about sombrero memes will join me in calling for this very deranged person to drop out of the race.”

Momentum with the GOP

With Virginia trending purple in recent cycles, Miyares’s commanding lead is more than just a statistical bump — it’s a sign that voters are rejecting Democratic extremism and moral decay.

Once viewed as a toss-up, the race is now a potential bellwether for how the America First movement is resonating even in swing states.

If Miyares holds his lead, it will be yet another validation of President Trump’s enduring influence and a clear message that voters want law, order, and integrity restored to public office.