UPDATE 7:06 pm – Just one last point; this debate was run FAR FAR FAR better than the governor’s debate…moderators so much better, neither candidate interrupting the other, etc. It really demonstrates why Democrats should avoid like the plague ever agreeing to any debates run by right-wing media.
UPDATE 6:59 pm – Closing statements, first by Jay Jones, who says the stakes couldn’t be higher and the differences couldn’t be clearer. Says Miyares is a willing cheerleader for Trump, while he’ll see Trump in court to hold him accountable and protect Virginia. Says he’s put out plans to help make Virginians’ lives better. Reiterates a lot of what he said during the debate. We have a chance to chart a very different future; Miyares thinks Trump is his boss. Virginia needs an AG who will hold Trump accountable and defend our Commonwealth. Miyares concludes by claiming he’s been a successful AG for four years, which is HIGHLY debatable; also claims the office isn’t partisan, even as he’s been highly partisan the past four years; says he has a very different vision than Jay Jones…goes back to attacking Jones about his speeding ticket, community service and offensive texts about the Gilberts; says we can do so much better, cites the “Virginia Way”…
UPDATE 6:55 pm – Miyares says he went into law because of oppression of his uncle by the Castro regime in Cuba. Attacks Jay Jones again for his texts, compares him to autocratic regimes. Jones says he’s the grandson of a civil rights attorney; he dedicated his life to protecting others. Says his father, Jerrauld Jones, served in all three braches of government, his mother was a violent crime prosecutor. “So I know the awesome responsibility lawyers have in Virginia to keep us safe and to protect us…I know the awesome power that the law can wield.”
UPDATE 6:49 pm – Question on civil rights. Jones says he’s the descendant of slaves, people who endured Jim Crow and segregation, so civil rights is “in my blood,” “deep and meaningful to me.” Says Miyares fired everybody in the civil rights office, and Virginians haven’t been protected. Now we can enshrine a constitutional right to an abortion; Miyares has an extreme record on abortion, undermining women’s right to choose, etc., and that worries him a lot. Meanwhile, Trump is threatening our civil rights and civil liberties, and Miyares has done NOTHING to protect Virginians (quick fact check: TRUE!). Miyares claims he’s proud of his office’s record on civil rights, which is…uhhh…alrighty, sure. Miyares’ example? That he took on Thomas Jefferson High School. Then segues to attacking Jones on transgender kids on sports teams, etc. Jones says Miyares shut down an investigation into a rat/roach-infested housing complex in Richmond; “he is beholden to his corporate donors.” Miyares returns to the “there he goes again” line.
UPDATE 6:43 pm – On immigration, Miyares says his mother fled Communist Cuba, so understands this issue. Then…yep, starts bashing the Biden administration for every state supposedly becoming a “border state,” supposedly for violent transnational gangs proliferating, etc. Says he’s focused on illegal immigrants who have committed crimes (note that the Trump administration has been going after law-abiding immigrants just going about their lives). Jones says we have to protect civil rights and civil liberties, make sure that everybody is afforded due process. Says Republicans in Washington haven’t done anything to help alleviate immigration problems. Says Miyares will let Trump do whatever he wants instead of putting Virginia first. Miyares back to bashing the Biden administration. Says “this is a crime-fighting office.” Jones says Virginians are hurting, waiting for Miyares to prosecute a case against Trump. “You should prosecute the president…I cannot wait to see Donald Trump in court.”
UPDATE 6:38 pm – Top three responsibilities of job. Jones says Virginians need an AG who will step up and protect Virginians, and Miyares is “too weak to stand up to the president and too scared.” Says Trump’s policies are seriously harming Virginians…while Miyares won’t do his job. Can’t have Trump getting his way in Virginia every single day, as would happen with Miyares as AG. Also need an AG with a forward-looking vision. Also need safe communities – cracking down on violent crime, getting illegal guns off the streets, protecting our children. Says Myares takes his orders from his party and from Trump. Miyares says he’s all about “protecting Virginians” – that’s his “number one mission” (then proceeds to wildly distort what the situation was when he took office). Miyares claims he’s always stood up to Virginia, which is…let’s just say, not particularly accurate. Jones says the AG’s office is primarily a legal office; Miyares says it’s “an office to protect Virginians.”
UPDATE 6:34 pm – Miyares now flat-out lying about the Virginia Clean Economy Act, bashes Jones on Dominion’s offshore wind project, claims he’s the champion of ratepayers…this is really breahtakingly dishonest. Miyares also falsely claims that RGGI will wreck the state’s economy, which is an absolutely absurd/false thing to say. This guy is a DISASTER when it comes to energy/environmental issues. Says we have to have natural gas in the mix, claims it used to be considered clean energy. Soooo dumb. Jones says, correctly, the the environment is under threat, and that we need to hold our biggest polluter – Dominion Energy – accountable, while Miyares is “bought and paid for by Dominion.” Jones says Youngkin took Virginia out of RGGI in a way that was “patently illegal” – and Miyares did nothing about it.
UPDATE 6:32 pm – Jones says Miyares won’t step up and protect Virginians. Miyares says “there he goes again – 15 times he said the name of the president, not one time has he said the name of victims…we can do better than a left-wing politician trying to seek a promotion.”
UPDATE 6:31 pm – Miyares says (falsely) that Jones is a “criminal-first, victim-last politician.” Then spews out a bunch of distorted b.s. about Jones’. Goes back to saying Jones needs to drop out, talks about Jones supposedly wanting to see the Gilberts’ children to die.
UPDATE 6:29 pm – Jones says he’s committed to keeping Virginians safe, says his mother was a violent crime prosecutor who took on the “worst of the worst,” says he had cops and sheriffs as babysitters. Says he voted to fund law enforcement at record levels. Also says he took on the gun lobby, unlike Miyares. Keeping our children safe is crucial to him.
UPDATE 6:28 pm – Jones says whatever Donald Trump says, Jason Miyares will do. Jones says that it’s “utterly despicable” that former UVA President Jim Ryan was put in the position he was.
UPDATE 6:27 pm – Miyares says no state schools have lost any federal funding, in part because he (Miyares) has defended them.
UPDATE 6:25 pm – Jones says Miyares can’t seem to prosecute a case against Trump to save his life. Says the stakes of this election are very clear – someone who will be Trump’s ally or someone who will fight back and protect Virginia. Says he can’t wait to see Donald Trump in court, while Jones is too weak and too scared to do so.
UPDATE 6:22 pm – Miyares claims he just calls “balls and strikes,” that he’s sued both the Biden and Trump administrations. Says Jones is running for the wrong office. Also says if Jones were really sorry, he wouldn’t be running – “you know Todd Gilbert…they were 2 and 5 years old at the time…”
UPDATE 6:20 pm – Jones says Miyares can’t prosecute a case against Trump. Jones says Trump used incendiary language to incite a riot to try to overturn an election, Winsome Sears used violent language about people who disagreed with her extreme position on abortion, “John Reid shared Nazi porn,” etc. Says he’s taken accountability for his mistakes; this job demands someone who will hold Donald Trump accountable, that Miyares is “too weak and too scared” to do so.
UPDATE 6:18 pm – Miyares starts talking about Jones’ speeding ticket, attacks Jones’ community service as “done for his own political action committee.” Says Jones’ text messages would cause him to fail a background check. Says Jones didn’t apologize for three years – “you chose to stay silent.” “At the end of the day, Jay, you’re a politician, not a prosecutor…”
UPDATE 6:15 pm – Question to Jones about the text messages and reckless driving. Jones says he made “grave mistakes” and was “held accountable,” completed the terms of the community service he was sentenced to. Then pivots to Miyares not holding Trump accountable as he’s run “roughshod” over Virginia. “Jason hangs out with Donald Trump at MAGA rallies. I will see Jason Miyares and Donald Trump in court as your next Attorney General…to protect Virginia…and hold Donald Trump accountable.”
UPDATE 6:09 pm – Jay Jones says he’s running to “put Virginia first” – “progress, opportunity and safety.” Says he funded law enforcement at record levels, cracked down on sex offenders, took on corporations that were ripping off regular people, etc. Jones says he “deeply, deeply regret[s]” the text messages, says he’s “ashamed,” “embarrassed,” “sorry” – to Speaker Gilbert and his family, to his own family, to every single Virginian. Pledges he’ll always be accountable for his mistakes. Says this race isn’t about his mistakes, it’s about the future of Virginia and Virginians. Segues into talking about Trump – and Miyares being a “willing cheerleader” for Trump’s destructive policies. Says Miyares won’t stand up to big corporations, monopolies, etc. Says Miyares pushed an abortion ban here in Virginia. “It is no surprise that President Trump has endorsed Jason for this race…” Says he rejects Trump’s extremist agenda. “We deserve a Virginia that works for every single one of us…not somebody who works for the President.”
UPDATE 6:05 pm – Opening statements (4 minutes); Miyares starts, obviously puts a massively positive spin on his record as AG, which arguably is the worst other than Ken Cuccinelli in the past few decades. After a minute or so, Miyares started attacking Jones – saying he’s inexperience, then (falsely) claims that Jones is anti-police and anti-victim, (falsely) claims something Jones did led to a rape in Loudoun schools…then says we know what Jones does “in the dark” (quoting extensively from Jones’ texts to Carrie Coyner), claims Jones wants “cops to die,” etc.
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At 6 pm this evening (until 7:30 pm), at the University of Richmond (moderated by the Virginia Bar Association’s President, K. Brett Marston), we’re going to get our one and only Attorney General debate of the 2025 campaign. For event details, see here and for the live stream, see here and below:
The election, of course, is on November 4, just 19 days from now, with early voting underway since September 19, and with around 588,000 votes cast so far (there were about 3.3 million total votes cast in 2021).
As for the state of the race right now, the latest polling has it a dead heat, basically: 46.4% for Jay Jones, 46.4% for Jason Miyares – with the race having tightened significantly in recent weeks (from an 11-point Jones lead on August 14 and a 4-point Jones lead on October 4 to tied right now), following the texts scandal you’ve undoubtedly read and heard about.
For his part, Miyares is likely to Jones tonight on the texting scandal, probably also try to argue that Jones is “soft on crime”/”hates the police,” etc. For his part, Jones is likely to attack Miyares for being a rubber stamp for Trump’s illegality, for opposing a woman’s right to reproductive healthcare/choice, for being a really bad Attorney General, etc. Also, given that Donald Trump is very unpopular in Virginia, with about a 41% approval rating, expect to hear Jones mention his name repeatedly tonight – and tie him (and the damage his administration has done and continues to do to Virginia’s economy) to Miyares.
Anyway, see here for live video. I’ll be live blogging the debate – mostly to highlight anything that jumps out at me, as opposed to trying to be comprehensive on this. Finally, I’d just argue that debates are kind of ridiculous, as by this point, everyone should know where the candidates stand on the issues, who they are and what makes them tick, etc. Still, tonight’s debate will probably get higher-than-usual viewership, due to all the publicity Jones’ texting scandal has gotten in the last couple weeks. So I’d argue that Jones needs to at the minimum explain to the viewing audience why he regrets sending those texts, why they are an aberration and not the norm with him, and why he’d make a much better Attorney General than Jason Miyares the next four years. If Jones succeeds at all of that, this could end up being a very tight race down to the wire. If not, then Miyares could head out of this as the favorite to win on November 4. Bottom line: a lot’s a stake tonight, much more than normally would be the case with a sleepy, low-ratings AG debate…
