Virginia’s attorney general race has been thrown into chaos after Democratic candidate Jay Jones was forced into damage control over a string of vile, violent text messages — including one in which he suggested a Republican colleague should get “two bullets to the head.”

The revelation, first reported by The National Review, has detonated like a grenade in an already vicious campaign, shredding Jones’s credibility and forcing Democrats onto the defensive just weeks before Election Day.

Jones — a former state legislator who once marketed himself as a voice of civility — confirmed the texts were authentic and issued an apology, saying he takes “full responsibility” for his “actions.” But that admission has done little to stem bipartisan outrage over the messages, which go far beyond a lapse in judgment.

The comments were aimed at Todd Gilbert, then the Republican speaker of Virginia’s House of Delegates. In one exchange, Jones described Gilbert’s children “dying in the arms of their mother,” a line that stunned even his allies and prompted widespread calls for him to withdraw from the race.

“This isn’t a gaffe,” said Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares, Jones’s opponent and the state’s top prosecutor. “You have to be coming from an incredibly dark place to write what he wrote — not about a stranger, but a colleague, someone you’ve worked with.”

Miyares, who has met with families of murder victims during his tenure, delivered one of the campaign’s most searing rebukes:

“There is no cry like that of a mother who has lost her child. For him to invoke that image — to weaponize it — is unspeakable.”

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger said she told Jones directly she was “disgusted” by his words. Lt. governor hopeful Ghazala Hashmi condemned the remarks as “reprehensible,” insisting, “political violence has no place in our country, and we must demand better from our leaders.”

The Republican Attorneys General Association weighed in, calling the texts “abhorrent” and urging Jones to drop out. Its chair, Kansas AG Kris Kobach, said, “There is no place for violent rhetoric — least of all from someone who wants to represent law enforcement.”

The timing could hardly be worse for Democrats, who are already battling internal fractures and public weariness over rising political hostility nationwide. The controversy also lands amid a wave of politically motivated killings, including last month’s shooting deaths of conservative activist Charlie Kirk and former Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband.

Jones’s campaign has scrambled to contain the fallout, insisting he was not in office when the messages were sent and that they were “an immature and inexcusable lapse in judgment.” But the explanation rings hollow.

In one text from 2022, Jones wrote: “Three people, two bullets… Gilbert, Hitler, and Pol Pot. Gilbert gets two bullets to the head.”

Delegate Carrie Coyner, a moderate Republican who received the texts, reportedly urged him to stop. His reply: “Lol … ok ok.”

Now, as early voting continues across Virginia, the fallout is spreading fast. Democratic insiders privately admit the scandal could cost them the race for attorney general — and tarnish their broader message about restoring decency in politics.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC)