Democratic Virginia Attorney General candidate Jay Jones once sent disturbing texts to a former colleague in August 2022 about wanting to kill a Republican lawmaker, according to National Review.
Jones, a former Virginia state delegate, told Republican House Delegate Carrie Coyner that he would give former Republican Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert “two bullets to the head” and urinate on his grave, National Review reported on Friday, citing text messages it obtained. Jones is running against Republican Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares in the November general elections and reportedly made the comments about Gilbert after leaving the state house months earlier.
“I will go to their funerals to piss on their graves … [to] send them out awash in something,” Jones reportedly wrote about Republican colleagues such as Gilbert. The now-candidate also said that if he had Gilbert and two dictators in front of him and a gun with two bullets, “Gilbert gets two bullets to the head,” according to National Review.
“Spoiler: put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people you know and he receives both bullets every time,” Jones told Coyner, the outlet reported.
Coyner asked Jones to “please stop,” adding, “It really bothers me when you talk about hurting people or wishing death on them … no matter who they are,” National Review reported. Jones reportedly replied with “Lol” and “Ok, ok.”
Jones’ campaign, Miyares’ office and Gilbert’s staff at the Page County Commonwealth Attorney’s office did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment.
The candidate blamed “Trump-controlled media” for the scandal in a statement to WTVR Richmond, but did not deny the conversations.
“Like all people, I’ve sent text messages that I regret and I believe that violent rhetoric has no place in our politics. Let’s be clear about what is happening in the Attorney General race right now: Jason Miyares is dropping smears through Trump-controlled media organizations to assault my character and rescue his desperate campaign,” Jones said. “This is a strategy that ensures Jason Miyares will continue to be accountable to Donald Trump, not the people of Virginia. This race is about whether Trump can control Virginia or Virginians control Virginia.”
After the text exchange in 2022, Jones called Coyner on the phone to further explain his views and said conservative public officials like Gilbert should experience pain so that it leads to policy change, National Review reported, citing a source familiar with the call. He reportedly suggested Gilbert’s wife should watch her child die.
“Yes, I’ve told you this before,” Jones reportedly texted Coyner after she criticized what he said over the phone. “Only when people feel pain personally do they move on policy.”
“On August 8, 2022 I had a text conversation with Jay Jones, what he said was not just disturbing but disqualifying for anyone who wants to seek public office,” Coyner told National Review. “Jay Jones wished violence on the children of a colleague and joked about shooting Todd Gilbert. It’s disgusting and unbecoming of any public official.”
Former Democratic Virginia Rep. Abigail Spanberger, who is now her party’s nominee for Virginia governor, said she spoke with Jones after hearing the story and told him “that he must fully take responsibility for his words,” WJLA reported.
The Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) also called on Jones to resign from the upcoming election in a Friday statement posted on X. “Conservatives are being executed for their beliefs, and text messages like these are part of the problem,” RAGA Executive Director Adam Piper said. “Virginia deserves far better.”
Jones previously faced criticism about his personal conduct after news broke that he served a sentence for a 2022 reckless driving incident in Virginia by logging community service hours with his own political action committee.
“Instead of taking accountability for his actions, it appears that my opponent submitted a letter to the Court stating that he performed 500 hours of ‘community service’ for his own PAC, which isn’t a charitable organization under state code, to dodge potential jail time,” Miyares said in a Wednesday X post. “This raises serious, troubling questions about Jay Jones’ judgment, his ability to uphold the law, and, ultimately, his qualifications for Attorney General.”
Jones previously lost the Democratic Virginia primary for attorney general in 2021 but won the 2025 primary in June.
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