Del. Jay Jones Pledges to Work “relentlessly to hold Republicans accountable for their far-right agenda and use all of my energy to elect the entire Democratic statewide ticket and our House candidates in every corner of the Commonwealth”

Last week’s primary yielded disappointment for me and many other candidates, but I remain enduringly optimistic about the way ahead. I am enormously proud of the campaign that we ran and am eternally grateful for leaders like Governor Northam, Representatives Luria and Scott, former Attorney General Mary Sue Terry, and the countless other elected officials throughout Virginia who stood with us in our campaign. And I want to thank every single person that came out and voiced their support for our campaign.

June 8th’s results did tell us one thing: there is real hunger in Virginia for change in our justice system. Voters made clear they want to see us bring about a system of  policing, sentencing, and rehabilitation that treats every Virginian with dignity. That is why we will not let our disappointment deter us from continuing the fight to bring true reform to Virginia.

These issues that we brought to the forefront are just as urgent as ever. Under Governor Northam, we’ve made progress by leaps and bounds, but I ran for Attorney General because I know we cannot afford to rest on our laurels. Nothing about that has changed and I will continue to work in the state legislature to bring about justice.

But I know all too well that the change we seek won’t be possible unless we elect committed leaders who will be proactive on these issues and rise to meet this moment in our history. We must stand shoulder to shoulder to ensure success in November 2021. Make no mistake that every single Republican that is running – up and down the ballot – has designs on tearing down and rolling back the progress we have made. Don’t be fooled by their rhetoric. You can simply look at their record. They want to entrench their regressive worldview that is stuck in Virginia’s past and solidify an extremist agenda that left so many behind before Democrats took over Richmond. We can’t slip back into the old way of doing things.

Whether it’s Glenn Youngkin, who has said that Trump, “represents so much of why I’m running” or Jason Miyares and his openly extremist agenda that will gut civil rights protections and make our communities less safe, it’s clear Virginia Republicans are out of step and out of touch with our values. Already, the RPV is scaremongering and trying to roll back on the progress we’ve all accomplished together. We can’t let them win.

That is why, through November, I will be working relentlessly to hold Republicans accountable for their far-right agenda and use all of my energy to elect the entire Democratic statewide ticket and our House candidates in every corner of the Commonwealth. I will go wherever I’m summoned and campaign for whoever asks and I’ll be the loudest voice to ensure we continue the course. I hope you will join me in this effort. The work we have done over the past four years is under threat, and Democrats cannot afford to be anything less than unified and aggressive in making our case to voters. We will make sure that we keep Virginia marching towards justice and prosperity and we’ll move onward – together.