Virginia’s 2025 attorney general’s race is taking shape

Henrico County Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor says her experience makes her the best candidate for the job. 

The Democratic primary for the Virginia attorney general’s race in 2025 is shaping up as two candidates appear to have thrown their hats in the ring. 

Shannon Taylor, Henrico County’s longtime Commonwealth’s Attorney, announced in June she was seeking the nomination to be Virginia’s top lawyer, and last week, news broke that former Democratic state delegate Jay Jones filed paperwork to run for Virginia attorney general next year. 

The current attorney general, Republican Jason Miyares, has not said what his plans are once his first term is up. He could run again, or he could challenge Winsome Earle-Sears for the Republican nomination for governor in 2025. So far, no Republicans have announced plans to run for attorney general.

Asked about his plans, a spokesperson for Jones said any “formal announcement regarding a potential Jay Jones candidacy will come after” the November elections have concluded. Jones lost a 2021 primary race to be the Democratic nominee for attorney general to incumbent Mark Herring, who went on to lose a tight race to Miyares in the general election. 

Taylor had mulled running for attorney general in 2021, but eventually threw her support behind Herring after he dropped out of the race for governor in 2020 to pursue another term as attorney general. 

In an interview with The Dogwood, Taylor criticized Miyares for what she sees as his failings on a range of issues like reproductive rights, education, and environmental protections. 

“He’s made it very clear that he supports the governor’s actions when it comes to affecting women’s health care decisions,” Taylor said. “His actions have made it very clear that he is not concerned with the safety of all children in our educational environments.”

Taylor said her top focuses would be protecting reproductive rights, advocating for stronger hate crimes laws, helping develop “common sense” gun legislation, and ensuring stronger consumer protections especially for vulnerable seniors. 

Taylor has decades of courtroom experience and a track record of winning elections. She was the first woman elected to serve as Henrico’s Commonwealth’s Attorney in 2011, according to her campaign website, and she was reelected in 2015 and 2019. Her electoral wins coincided with Henrico’s transformation from a Republican-leaning county, to a purple one, to today, when it is considered more reliably Democratic. 

“I won that first race in 2011 when Henrico was, I think everyone would agree, still pretty red,” Taylor said. 

In her time as Henrico’s Commonwealth’s Attorney, Taylor prosecuted a man affiliated with the Ku Klux Klan after he hit Black Lives Matter demonstrators with his truck. The man was eventually sentenced to serve nearly four years in prison. Taylor at the time fought for a longer sentence, but cited weak hate crime legislation as an obstacle – an issue she would prioritize if elected attorney general. 

Taylor has also focused on combating human trafficking, and she cites as a strength her experience helping lawmakers and advocates develop legislation. 

Asked what makes her the best candidate, Taylor said it all boils down to her experience. 

“My experience compared to anybody else is just the stronger position,” Taylor said.