Jay Jones has won the Democratic nomination for Virginia attorney general, setting up a showdown with Republican incumbent Jason Miyares this November.
The 36-year-old African American, a lifelong member of the Basilica of St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception in Norfolk, formerly served as a Virginia state delegate. He defeated Shannon Taylor in the primary for AG, one of two hotly contested races for Democrats seeking statewide office in the Old Dominion. The Associated Press called Jones's victory on Tuesday around 10pm ET.
“I am ready for this fight and to win this November,” Jones said in a statement.
"Virginia needs leaders who will put Virginia first. Who will stand up to the powerful corporate special interests. Who will stand up for the rule of law. Who will keep us safe. And that's exactly what I will do as your Attorney General."
The Jay Jones campaign releases the following statement: pic.twitter.com/v4mHt68nj7
— Jay Jones (@jonesjay) June 18, 2025
A practicing attorney in Norfolk, Jones comes from a high-powered family of legal professionals—including his late father, the circuit court judge and former state legislator Jerrauld Jones; his grandfather, civil rights attorney Hilary H. Jones Jr.; and his mother, circuit judge Lyn M. Simmons.
A former financial professional, Jones earned a law degree from the University of Virginia in 2015 and first ran for public office two years later, winning his father’s former seat in the 89th district of the Virginia House of Delegates. He served nearly two terms and won a third before resigning in December 2021 for family reasons.
During his final year in the state house, Jones made his first bid for Virginia attorney general, losing to two-term incumbent Mark Herring in a June 2021 primary. Herring was subsequently defeated by GOP challenger Miyares in the general election that November, a decidedly close race. (Herring’s own victory over Republican Mark Obenshain in 2013 was the closest in state history.)
Miyares, a Trump ally with close ties to the MAGA movement, has operated as AG with a law-and-order ethos, including discredited claims of electoral fraud on the part of Democratic voters. While some have praised his efforts to combat violent crime and the opioid crisis, others say Miyares’ focus on partisan national issues—like the elimination of DEI initiatives—has been to the detriment of Virginians on the local level.
Jones, who after leaving the state house served for a year in Washington as an assistant attorney general for the District of Columbia, is running on a progressive platform. His emphases include civil rights protections, combating corporate influence, and defending abortion rights in a state where the procedure is illegal after the second trimester.
Jones' primary campaign had the endorsement of Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey, two former governors in Terry McAuliffe and Ralph Northam, and several current and former U.S. representatives.
Historically, Virginia’s attorney general seat was for decades a Republican stronghold, lasting from just before the 1994 Republican Revolution until 2013, when Herring won by a razor-thin margin. He won more comfortably in 2017 before being defeated by Miyares, the first Latino to hold statewide office in Virginia. His 2021 victory was part of a Republican flip of all three statewide offices.
This fall’s general election will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 4, with Jones running on a Democratic slate alongside lieutenant governor candidate Ghazala Hashmi, currently a state senator, and governor candidate Abigail Spanberger, a former U.S. congresswoman.
Nate Tinner-Williams is co-founder and editor of Black Catholic Messenger.
