In the News
Brakkton Booker | September 9, 2025
In Virginia, where there are three statewide contests this fall, most political observers are naturally focusing on the gubernatorial race which recent polls indicate is tightening between Democrat Abigail Spanberger and Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears.
But the marquee contest this fall, according to interviews with nearly a dozen lawmakers, strategists and political operatives, is the race for the state’s attorney general.
[…] Standing in his way is Democratic attorney general nominee Jay Jones, the son of prominent judges who can trace his African American family’s lineage back four generations in Virginia. In him, Democrats see the biggest weapon to fight back against Donald Trump, who they argue has inflicted irrevocable harm on the state, particularly with DOGE cuts that disproportionately impacted the northern Virginia suburbs outside Washington.
“The most important office we absolutely need is the attorney general because this is the individual who will sue the brakes off the Trump administration,” Virginia Del. Joshua Cole told a gathering of roughly two dozen veterans gathered in the city of Stafford, a short drive from Marine Corps Base Quantico.
Both Jones and Miyares are seen as future gubernatorial candidates. And given Virginia’s unique state law barring governors from serving consecutive four-year terms, Virginia’s voters are getting an early opportunity to size up each of the candidates who may be at the top of the ballot in 2029. It’s adding pressure on both parties to not let their respective candidate falter.
[…] Polling released Tuesday from Virginia Commonwealth University suggests achieving ticket splitting may be harder than it appears. The attorney general’s race has Jones up by 6 percentage points (47 percent to 41 percent) with 10 days before the start of early voting in Virginia. (By contrast Earle-Sears is trailing Spanberger by 9 points while Democrat Ghazala Hashmi holds a 4 point edge over Republican John Reid for the lieutenant governor contest.)
[…] Democrats, meanwhile, are eager to take Republicans on in this area, bolstered by Trump’s threats to use the National Guard to “clean up” Democratic-run cities like Chicago and Baltimore — not to mention the recent extension of the National Guard in Washington through November. Democrats hope voters see Jones as the party’s best line of defense to protect Virginia from Trump’s overreach.
The Jones campaign launched a website this month calling out “MAGA Miyares” as “Too Weak” to stand firm against Trump.
The VCU survey shows the contest tightening since their poll in July, which had Jones up then by 9 points. But for those in the Jones camp, the fact that Miyares has not closed the gap significantly suggests Democrats are in a better position to best him in the final stretch of the campaign.
“Virginia is a Democratic-leaning state,” Jones’ media consultant Mark Bergman told The Recast. “For any Republican to win in Virginia, you need the wind at your back, and [Republicans have] a gale-force … hurricane in their face.”