RICHMOND, Va. β Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, a Republican, and former State Delegate Jay Jones, a Democrat, will debate Thursday night amid a race for Attorney General that's made national headlines and even caught the attention of President Donald Trump.
President Trump and many Republican lawmakers have called on Jones to end his campaign for Attorney General after the publication of private text messages from 2022 suggesting that a political opponent gets βtwo bullets to the head.β
Jones, who represented Norfolk in the Virginia House of Delegates from 2018 through 2021, has apologized repeatedly for the violent rhetoric he used in text messages he sent to Del. Carrie Coyner, a Republican from Chesterfield, in 2022 about former Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert. The text exchange was published by the National Review.
CBS 6 political analyst Dr. Bob Holsworth believes Jones will try to use Thursday's debate as a way to move on from the past two weeks, while Miyares is going to try and keep the focus there.
Holsworth says he expects Miyares to use the text messages and a 2022 reckless driving charge Jones faced for driving 116 miles per hour on Interstate 64 as proof Jones is unfit for the office.
While on the other side, Holsworth says Jones can't apologize all night. He says Jones must tie Miyares to President Trump, whose approval rating remains under water in Virginia according to recent polls -- and try to re-energize the independents and Democrats he lost from the scandal.
"I've been hearing from some Democrats that they don't intend to vote in that race. There's going to be an under vote, you might say, for the AG race," Holsworth said. "[Jones] has to find a way to make a contrast with Jason Miyares that convinces Democrats and independents that it's important to have a Democrat in that office. Not somebody who is supporting Donald Trump's agenda, whether that be about Virginia universities, about deportation, about what is going to happen to Virginians if Donald Trump has an ally in the AG's office."
Holsworth says Miyares' message to voters will be simple.
"[Miyares is] going to say, 'I've served for four years. You know who I am. I've done a good job, and that, by and large, this person who's trying to take my job is not fit for the office based on both the text messages, the speeding ticket and the general sense that he's just too young and immature in terms of his actions to be the Attorney General in Virginia,'" Holsworth said.
The debate will be held at the Modlin Center at the University of Richmond and will start at 6 p.m.
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