BY MICHAEL MARTZ Richmond Times-Dispatch
Former Del. Jay Jones, D-Norfolk, clinched the Democratic nomination for attorney general on Tuesday, four years after losing a primary battle against then-Attorney General Mark Herring and then resigning his House of Delegates to attend to the birth of his first child.
Jones, 36, who served in the House from 2018 to 2021, defeated Henrico County Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor, 57, by about 9,500 votes or 2 percentage points.
The hard-fought race was marked by a proxy war between Clean Virginia, which had backed his campaign with $1 million in contributions and advertising, and Dominion Energy, which had given $800,000 to Taylor. Dominion’s contributions sparked a backlash from Democrats concerned about climate change and the political influence wielded by Virginia’s largest monopoly utility.
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Jones will now face Attorney General Jason Miyares, a Republican who defeated Herring in the general election in 2021 and is seeking a second term.
With Jones’ victory, the challenge for Democrats will be healing a rift in the party over the competing roles of Dominion and Clean Virginia in state politics as they face Miyares in the general election in November. Miyares enters the campaign with a sizable financial advantage, with $2.3 million in the bank as Jones works to rebuild his campaign war chest after a costly primary fight.
“I am ready for this fight and to win in November,” Jones said in a statement on social media.
He assailed “corporations and special interests” that he warned would back Miyares, who also has received $475,000 in donations from Dominion.
“And we are ready for that fight because it’s not their government, it’s yours,” Jones said.
Taylor, now in her fourth term as commonwealth’s attorney, issued a concession statement at 10:17 p.m., urging unity behind the statewide Democratic ticket in November to defeat what she called “the extremism” of Miyares and President Donald Trump.
“Virginia deserves leadership that protects our freedoms and keeps our families safe, not chaos and extremist attempts to erode legal protections and dismantle the rule of law,” she said. “I remain committed to that fight. This campaign may be over, but our movement is not.”
Jones’ victory was bittersweet, coming less than a month after the death of his father, Jerrauld Jones, a former delegate, judge and longtime civil rights leader who died on May 21.
Jones dominated his home turf in Hampton Roads, but he also performed well in the Richmond area. He narrowly defeated Taylor in Richmond and lost to her by just nine votes in adjacent Chesterfield County, according to unofficial results.
Taylor won big in Henrico County, where she has served 14 years as commonwealth’s attorney and helped turn the former Republican territory blue. She also carried Hanover and other outlying counties.
Both candidates fought hard to win votes in Northern Virginia, a Democratic stronghold. Taylor won Fairfax County, Fairfax City and Alexandria comfortably, Loudoun County narrowly and Prince William County by just three votes, according to unofficial results. Jones won in Arlington County, Falls Church, and the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park. He also won the outlying suburbs of Stafford and Spotsylvania counties, and the city of Fredericksburg.
Both Jones and Taylor had backing from long lists of Democratic heavy hitters in Virginia politics.
Two former governors, Terry McAuliffe and Ralph Northam, endorsed Jones, as did five current or former Virginia representatives in Congress and U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J. He also had support from almost 50 Democratic members of the General Assembly, including Sen. Lamont Bagby, D-Henrico, now chairman of the Democratic Party of Virginia, and Sen. Schuyler Van Valkenburg, D-Henrico.
Taylor had endorsements from former Attorney General Mark Herring, who served two terms in the office, and former Attorney General Mary Sue Terry, the first woman to win statewide office in Virginia. She also was backed by former House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn, D-Fairfax, and other current or former political leaders in Northern Virginia, including Fairfax County Board Chairman Jeff McKay, Alexandria Mayor Alyia Gaskins and former longtime Senate Majority Leader Dick Saslaw, D-Fairfax.