Democrats led in Virginia’s attorney general and gubernatorial races before the National Review published copies of the violent text messages attorney general candidate Jay Jones sent a colleague in 2022.
Jones said if he were given two bullets and had to decide who to shoot between Nazi Germany’s dictator Adolf Hitler, Cambodia’s dictator Pol Pot and then-state House Speaker Todd Gilbert, “Gilbert gets two bullets to the head.”
“Spoiler: put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people you know and he receives both bullets every time,” he added.
Polls before the messages were released showed Jones up by 6 percentage points against the Republican incumbent attorney general, Jason Miyares, and he has since slipped about 6 points, per The Trafalgar Group.
Meanwhile, Democrat Rep. Abigail Spanberger has faced heat for not asking Jones to withdraw from the race during the governor’s debate, last Friday.
Real Clear Politics polls show Spanberger averaging about 6 percentage points ahead of her Republican opponent, Winsome Earle-Sears, Monday morning.
Spanberger dodges questions on if she still supports Jones’ campaign
During Virginia’s gubernatorial debate on Friday, a moderator asked Spanberger if she still supported Jones in his campaign for attorney general.
Spanberger refused three times to say whether she still supports Jones in his race, saying it’s up to voters to decide if they support him.
However, she added, “It is important that candidates always denounce violence.”
Earle-Sears then addressed Spanberger. “Jay Jones advocated the murder of a man, a former speaker as well as his children, who were 2 and 5 years old. You have little girls. Would it take him pulling the trigger? Is that what would do it? And then you would say he needs to get out of the race?” she asked.
Instead of responding, Spanberger waited for the time to run out on the question.
Spanberger’s response to transgender-related questions
Virginia has also been roiled over questions of whether biological males who identify as transgender should be able to use women’s bathrooms and locker rooms, after a registered sex offender who is male came out as transgender and then used a women’s locker room.
When asked about that issue, Spanberger said she would ensure parents, teachers and educators will be able to “meet the unique needs of each school.”
“I say that as a mother of three daughters in Virginia public schools,” Spanberger said.
When asked if she would rescind Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s policy prohibiting biological men from being in women’s bathrooms at schools, she said she would allow local areas to decide what they wanted.
Will Charlie Kirk’s assassination turnout non-voters?
Since conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10, political violence has been at the center of political discourse.
Kirk’s death has also sparked political engagement among college students. Turning Point USA, Kirk’s college-centered political organization, has seen over 120,000 chapter requests since Sept. 10.
Arlington GOP Chairman Matthew Hurtt said there’s a chance that this political awakening among young people takes those relying on polls by surprise.
“I’m not a poll denier, but I will say, since Charlie Kirk’s assassination, it’s hard to peg who are likely voters,” he told Real Clear Politics.
The general election is on Nov. 4, but early voting is already underway.