OPINION:
Another Virginia politician’s dark side has been exposed. Jay Jones, a former member of the House of Delegates, aspires to seize the job of attorney general for the Old Dominion in November. Voters must decide whether that’s an appropriate position for someone who wishes “two bullets to the head” for his ideological opponents.
In a sane world, the sordid cellphone text message he sent in 2022 fantasizing about the violent end of Republican state House Speaker Todd Gilbert and his family would be a career ender. They won’t be, because Mr. Jones is a Democrat.
When a medical school yearbook photo was found showing Ralph Northam either in blackface or a Ku Klux Klan hood — it was never clear which — he didn’t resign as governor. Mr. Northam weathered the storm because Democrats don’t care about racism when they are the ones practicing it.
Mr. Jones’ campaign website even features Mr. Northam prominently, begging visitors to become “founding donors” supporting Mr. Jones. That’s fitting, considering the pair have a lot in common. The chilling thoughts that crossed the mind of the man who wants to be the commonwealth’s chief law enforcement officer went so far as to draw Mr. Gilbert’s wife and two young boys into the mix.
“I mean, do I think Todd and Jennifer are evil? And that they’re breeding little fascists? Yes. Only when people feel pain personally do they move on policy,” Mr. Jones typed, admitting that he was urging death on the Gilbert children.
National Review’s Audrey Fahlberg obtained the alarming phone communications that were sent to Delegate Carrie Coyner. The Republican lawmaker likely received them because Mr. Jones carelessly selected her name as the recipient when he intended his musings for someone else in his address book.
“It really bothers me when you talk about hurting people or wishing death on them. It isn’t ok, no matter who they are,” Ms. Coyner immediately typed back at Mr. Jones.
White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller placed the Virginia Democrat’s comments in a broader context. “This is how dangerously radicalized the Democrat Party has become,” he observed on X. “This is who they are installing as the judges, prosecutors and attorneys general who sit in judgment over you. They will not hesitate to hurt you while freeing the most violent monsters.”
The top of the 2025 Democratic state ticket hasn’t given an adequate response. Abigail “let your rage fuel you” Spanberger, who is running for governor, refused to call for the attorney general candidate to step aside in favor of someone with a more temperate disposition.
The rest of the state party’s leadership offers equally empty words, theoretically disowning Mr. Jones’ sentiments without doing anything about it. They aren’t retracting their endorsements of Mr. Jones, nor have prominent donors openly sought refunds from his campaign.
That leaves it to Virginians to prevent these dangerously radicalized leftists from grabbing control of the state. Voters have until Nov. 4 to cast a ballot to keep Jason Miyares as attorney general and elect Winsome Earle-Sears to replace term-limited Republican Glenn Youngkin as governor.
Both have called without reservation for Mr. Jones to abandon his quest for public office. Both repudiate the soft-on-crime and early-release policies that Democrats have imposed in states such as New York and California, creating chaos on the streets.
The commonwealth shouldn’t enable the Democratic Party’s liberal descent into madness.
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