None of the 10 top donors to Virginia Democrat Jay Jones’s campaign for attorney general are saying whether they want their money back following sensational late campaign revelations of his wishing two bullets in the head of a prominent former Republican Speaker of the state House.
Emails from The Washington Stand on October 6 to the top 10 donors, according to the Virginia Public Access Project (VPAP), asked if the donors were requesting refunds of their contributions, and if not, why not. The emails were repeated on October 8.
Several of the October 6 emails generated form responses promising a response “shortly” or “promptly,” but none were received by 5 p.m. on October 8.
The top 10 donors as of October 6 included (the rankings change from day to day as new data is acquired, inputted, and posted by VPAP):
- Democratic Attorneys General Association ($2,105,705)
- Clean Virginia Fund ($1,636,199)
- Elizabeth Simons, Heising-Simons Foundation ($750,000)
- Everytown for Gun Safety ($200,000)
- Government That Works PAC ($200,000)
- Va League of Conservation Voters ($182,286)
- Green Advocacy Project ($150,000)
- Freedom Virginia ($107,500)
- SEIU ($100,000)
- United Food & Commercial Workers Local 400 ($100,000)
Total: $5,231,690
The silence of big donors to the Jones campaign comes after a week of swirling controversy following startling revelations by National Review that Jones, while serving as a Democratic member of the Virginia House of Delegates, told a colleague that if he had two bullets and had to choose between Hitler, Pol Pot, and then-House Speaker Todd Gilbert (R), he would put both bullets in Gilbert’s head. He also fantasized about the deaths of Gilbert’s two children, who Jones described as “little fascists.”
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Jones is challenging Virginia’s incumbent Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares. Shortly after the revelations became public, Miyares posted a tweet calling for Jones to withdraw from the race.
“Jay Jones wished for the violent death of a political opponent and then fantasized about that opponent’s children dying in their mother’s arms. When confronted, he doubled down, saying that kind of grief and pain would be a good thing if it advanced his politics. And politics aside, one has to be coming from a dark place to advocate the murder of a colleague and their family. This conduct is disqualifying,” Miyares tweeted.
As The Washington Stand’s S.A. McCarthy reported earlier this week, Virginia and national Democratic leaders have maintained their support for Jones, though in some cases in rather muted form. Senator Tim Kaine (D-Va.), for example, noted that Jones has apologized for “indefensible” comments and expressed hope that “others” would do the same.
But indications of serious problems in the Jones campaign surfaced today when the candidate suddenly canceled a fundraiser scheduled for the evening of October 9 at the home of novelist David Baldacci, according to Axios.
Miyares launched a statewide quick-response $1.5 million advertising campaign based on the Jones statements.
Worried Democratic strategists who privately hope Jones will withdraw face a huge problem in the fact that Virginia has early voting, so residents began casting ballots in the attorney general contest on September 19. The state does not allow early voters to change their vote after casting an early ballot.
An estimated 390,000 early ballots have reportedly been received by Virginia election officials as of October 7, more than enough to affect the final count in the attorney general’s race. Miyares defeated then-incumbent Democrat Mark Herring, winning 1,647,100, or 50.36% of the total, compared to 1,620,564, or 49.55% for Herring.
The 390,000 early ballots cast thus far in 2025 represent 12% of 3.2 million votes cast in the 2021 contest.
LifeNews Note: Mark Tapscott is senior congressional analyst at The Washington Stand., where this originally appeared.
