Who’s running for Virginia attorney general in 2025? What to know about the job

Virginia’s attorney general’s race this year has Democrat Jay Jones facing off against incumbent Republican Jason Miyares.

You may be aware that election season is upon us in Virginia, and you may even know that the position of attorney general is on the ballot, but what’s really going on with this race? With the gubernatorial contest taking up so much of the media’s attention, we thought it important to fill you in on the details of this race that will be just a few slots down the ballot.    

As the top lawyer for the entire commonwealth, the attorney general provides legal services to all of Virginia’s agencies, boards, commissions, colleges, and universities.

The AG “defends the interests of Virginians and Virginia government and also works with law enforcement throughout the Commonwealth to prepare for emerging public safety threats and to promote successful, secure communities,” according to the official website of the Commonwealth of Virginia. 

This year’s race sees Democrat Jay Jones, who eked out a win with 51% of the Democratic primary vote, facing off against incumbent Republican Jason Miyares. Let’s take a closer look at what these candidates are all about. 

Meet Jay Jones

Jones comes from a long line of civil servants. His grandfather, Hilary H. Jones, Sr., was a pioneering civil rights attorney in Norfolk and became the first Black member of the Norfolk School Board, then the first Black appointee to the State Board of Education. 

Jay’s father Jerrauld C. Jones was one of just a few Virginians to serve in all three branches of state government.

A former state delegate from Norfolk himself, Jay Jones tried to make a run for the attorney general seat in 2021, but was beaten in the Democratic primary by incumbent Mark Herring, who was then defeated by Miyares in the general election. Jones’ current platform centers on consumer protection, corporate accountability, and civil rights. 

“The Attorney General should work for the people, not the wealthiest corporations in our state,” Jones told The Virginia Mercury this year. “I will always fight to hold special interests accountable, encourage cleaner and more affordable energy practices, and protect families from unfair utility costs.”

As a member of the House of Delegates, Jones played an integral role in passing legislation to protect abortion rights, expand Medicaid, and increase teacher pay. He also championed energy and environmental policies and wrote the legislation known as the “Ashanti Alert,” establishing a missing persons alert for adults in the Commonwealth that has since been implemented nationwide.

In an August interview with The Virginia Independent, Jones cited his time as an assistant attorney general in Washington, DC, during which his office sued Polymer80, the largest ghost gun manufacturer in the country, and put them out of business. He pledged that “a huge part of our plan” if he’s elected AG in Virginia would involve working to remove ghost guns from the street.

Meet Jason Miyares

Before winning the seat in the 2021 election, Jason Miyares served three terms in the state legislature. The son of a Cuban refugee, he is the first Hispanic American to be elected to a statewide office in Virginia and the first child of an immigrant to be attorney general.

While Miyares took a stand against the election denialism that defined his party through much of 2021, he endorsed Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s efforts to pass a 15-week abortion ban in Virginia, and showed his support for the socially conservative anti-abortion group The Family Foundation’s August briefing opposing the Reproductive Freedom Amendment, which would protect abortion access in the commonwealth. 

During his time in the House of Delegates, Miyares introduced legislation that would push thousands of Virginians off Medicaid coverage due to work requirements, a plan that would later be at the core of the Republicans’ recently-passed federal budget bill. 

READ MORE: Attorney General Jason Miyares Pulls Virginia From Effort to Ratify the Equal Rights Amendment 

In July, Miyares stood with Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s earlier declaration that more than 2,500 people arrested through the Virginia Homeland Security Task Force were “violent criminals,” despite a lack of any evidence to back up the claim. He has shown some willingness to split with the president, publicly criticizing Trump’s decision to pardon former Culpeper County Sheriff Scott Jenkins, who had been convicted on federal corruption charges. 

Early in-person voting for attorney general and other statewide races begins on Sept.19.

Related: Attorney General Jason Miyares Pulls Virginia From Effort to Ratify the Equal Rights Amendment