Virginia Republicans , but they are unified in their attacks against the Democratic nominee for attorney general, painting him as a far-left criminal sympathizer.
The Republican Party of Virginia launched a new attack campaign against the Democratic nominee for attorney general Jay Jones this week, dubbed 鈥.鈥
Democratic nominee Jay Jones, left, will face Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares in November.
The campaign, paid for by the Virginia GOP and authorized by Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares, who is running for reelection, cites some of Jones鈥 voting record as a delegate in Virginia鈥檚 General Assembly and paints Jones as soft on crime. Jones represented Norfolk in the House of Delegates from 2018 through 2021.
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The campaign, which includes yard signs and a website, has the slogan: 鈥渟oft on criminals and too weak for us.鈥
The 鈥淪oft Jay Jones鈥 campaign highlights several pieces of legislation that Jones voted against during his tenure in the House, including to impose mandatory minimum jail sentences for convicted repeat domestic abusers and that made it aggravated sexual battery for a massage therapist to sexually assault someone.
The Jones campaign did not specifically address his votes on these bills, but campaign spokeswoman Georgia Greenleaf said in a statement that as the father of two young boys and a former assistant attorney general, keeping communities safe 鈥渉as always been a top priority for Jay.鈥
鈥淭hat鈥檚 why he passed laws to strengthen penalties on sex offenders and crack down on illegal guns, while supporting then-record funding for law enforcement, including raising officer pay,鈥 Greenleaf said.
鈥淢eanwhile, Jason Miyares willingly weakens gun laws and refuses to crack down on predatory corporations, making Virginia less safe and less affordable.鈥
At a July 1 with the statewide Republican ticket, Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin said that Jones 鈥渋s so far left he has to get a boat ride to get to California.鈥
鈥淭his guy is so pro-criminal, he actually wants criminals to get a 50% reduction off of their sentence. This guy firmly believes that people are better out of jail,鈥 Youngkin said. 鈥淭his is what we鈥檙e up against.鈥
Miyares, at the same event, echoed Youngkin鈥檚 sentiments and said that Jones 鈥渋s the most left-wing candidate to ever run for this office.鈥
Jones鈥 campaign has focused on standing up against what he calls President Donald Trump鈥檚 鈥渄angerous agenda鈥 and highlighting Miyares鈥 inaction against the federal administration.
In an interview with the Richmond Times-Dispatch after he won the Democratic primary, Jones said his campaign plans to highlight how the current attorney general鈥檚 office has 鈥渇ailed to protect Virginians and (failed) to fight for us and really do their job.鈥
鈥淭hey would rather put Donald Trump above unions,鈥 Jones said. 鈥淭hey鈥檇 rather take their cues from Fox News, and we can do better, we deserve better and we offer better.鈥
