RICHMOND, Va. β The two candidates vying to be Virginia's next attorney general faced off in a debate Thursday night at the University of Richmond, with Democrat Jay Jones on the defensive over recent controversies.
The debate between Jones and incumbent Republican Jason Miyares comes as hundreds of thousands of votes have already been cast in early voting.
Jones offered an apology for controversial text messages he sent in 2022, but Miyares rejected it.
"I am ashamed, I am embarrassed, I am sorry," Jones said.
"You had three years to say you were sorry and you didn't, you chose to stay silent," Miyares responded.
The debate capped off a tumultuous two weeks for Jones, who has faced scrutiny over two separate controversies from 2022.
One involved a reckless driving conviction for driving 116 mph on I-64, for which he paid a fine and performed half his community service at his own political action committee.
The other involved text messages to a Republican legislative colleague in which he described hypothetically shooting then-Speaker Todd Gilbert and imagined violence against Gilbert's children.
Jones acknowledged his mistakes during the debate.
"I cannot take back what I said, but you have my word that I will always be accountable for my mistakes, and you also have my word that I will spend every waking moment fighting for you," Jones said.
Miyares used the controversies to question Jones' character.
"We have seen a window to who Jay Jones is and the way he thinks of people that disagree with him. Abraham Lincoln said the character is what you do in the dark when no one is watching. But now we know what he was doing in the dark," Miyares said.
The candidates also sparred on crime policy, with Miyares charging that Jones was soft on crime and had never prosecuted a criminal case. Jones countered that he had taken on the gun lobby and watched his own mother prosecute violent offenders.
Federal politics also created sharp divisions between the candidates. Jones accused Miyares of carrying out the Trump administration's agenda.
"For the last nine months, Donald Trump has run roughshod over this commonwealth. Jason Miyares has had more than 50 opportunities to sue the administration to protect our values, our ideals and the things we hold near and dear," Jones said.
Miyares insisted Jones was fighting the wrong battles.
"My interest is fighting the fights and putting the bad guys away, out of our streets. That has been our record. That was my promise to you. This office is an executive office. If Jay Jones wants to fight the fights in Washington, he should run for Congress," Miyares said.
With many early votes already cast, the debate's impact remains unclear. According to VPAP.org, more than 600,000 votes have already been cast, nearly double the pace from four years ago.
Some early voters in Henrico County said the debate wouldn't change their minds. One voter cited Jones' controversies as decisive factors.
"In my wildest imagination I can't. I mean the speeding ticket in New Kent was incredible. He did half his community service hours for his own group which is suspect at best. And then what he said about Gilbert was just incredible," voter Buddy Parcell said.
Another voter said national concerns about democracy would guide his state election choices.
"I just think that it all builds together and just ends up, you know, being important, and besides that, the state has a lot of authority of its own people, so that's important as well, sometimes more important," voter David Major added.
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