Republicans up and down the ballot in Virginia are centering their message in the closing weeks of the election on recently surfaced violent texts from Jay Jones, the Democrats' nominee for attorney general.
From Oct. 8-14, across all races in the state on next month's ballot, Republican candidates and groups spent just over $2 million on 18 broadcast and digital ads that mentioned Jones, according to an NBC News analysis of data from the ad-tracking firm AdImpact.
That amounted to nearly two-thirds of the roughly $3.3 million in total ad spending from Republicans on 114 broadcast and digital ads during that time frame in the races for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and state legislative seats.
Democrats still maintain a broad ad spending advantage over Republicans in Virginia overall, though that's narrowed somewhat in recent weeks. And in the attorney general race specifically, in which incumbent Jason Miyares is running against Jones, Republicans have outspent Democrats on the airwaves.
But even outside of that contest, it's clear Republicans have zeroed in on tying Democrats elsewhere on the ballot to Jones in the final stretch of the race in the blue-leaning state. The strategy comes as Virginia Democrats have largely condemned Jones' 2022 texts — in which he suggested a top Republican legislative leader in the state be shot — but stopped short of calling on him to end his campaign.
“It’s definitely the smart move for every campaign, from gubernatorial on down, to do this. It doesn’t just live in the attorney general race,” said Zack Roday, a Virginia-based Republican strategist. A message highlighting Jones “is very basic for the audience, for the voter to pick up to help them then make a decision with crucial new information.”
“There’s no good explanation for Democrats to be standing with Jay Jones — everyone should be pressing that,” Roday added.
Jones, a former state lawmaker who was not in office when he sent the texts three years ago, has publicly apologized as Republicans have called on him to exit the race.
The shift in messaging is especially pronounced in the gubernatorial contest between Republican Winsome Earle-Sears and Democrat Abigail Spanberger.
From Oct. 8-14, Republicans spent a total of $838,000 on broadcast and digital ads on that race. Nearly 90% of that money ($752,000) was spent on ads that refer to the Jones scandal, according to an NBC News analysis of ads tracked by AdImpact.
The Jones controversy propelled Republicans to send in more cash to help Earle-Sears, who has trailed Spanberger in polling and fundraising throughout the campaign.
While Spanberger has denounced Jones' texts, she has not called on him to drop out. During the lone debate of the governor's race last week, Earle-Sears repeatedly hammered Spanberger on the matter, calling on her to pull her endorsement of Jones.
Spanberger declined, and her silence on the issue was at the center of a new ad the Earle-Sears campaign released on Tuesday.
The ad features a clip of one of the several instances from the debate in which Earle-Sears confronted Spanberger directly.
“Would it take him pulling the trigger? Is that what would do it? And then you would say he needs to get out of the race, Abigail? You have nothing to say?” Earle-Sears says in the ad.
The ad then shows Earle-Sears referring to another 2022 text from Jones that discusses violence against then-state House Speaker Todd Gilbert's children.
“Abigail, what if he said it about your two children, your three children. Is that when you would say he should get out of the race, Abigail?” Earle-Sears continues.
The ad ends with text stating: “Her silence says it all.”
In the attorney general race, one new digital ad from Miyares this week appears to suggest Spanberger voters could split their ticket.
“Are you voting for Spanberger? What about Jay Jones?” the ad's narrator asks, before showing a clip of Spanberger saying in the debate that as it pertains to Jones, “it is up to every voter to make their own individual decision.”
“Make your own decision,” a narrator says at the end.
Spanberger campaign spokesperson Connor Joseph said that “Abigail’s focus hasn’t changed from the start of this campaign” and that she remains “laser-focused on lowering costs for Virginians.”
“In the final weeks of this race, Abigail will continue to focus on making Virginia more affordable for Virginia families, standing up to the Trump Administration’s attacks on Virginia’s economy, and putting Virginians first,” he said.
Earle-Sears campaign spokesperson Peyton Vogel told NBC News that “Jay Jones words were a call to violence, and that should horrify every Virginian.”
“This isn’t about party lines; it’s about basic decency. There is no justification for threatening or fantasizing about harm toward anyone because of their beliefs,” Vogel said. “If we’re serious about restoring civility in public life, then people who speak like that have no business asking to lead.”
A spokesperson for the Jones campaign didn’t respond to questions about the Republican ads. Jones is set to debate Miyares on Thursday.
Part of Spanberger’s calculus in holding back on a more full-throated approach on Jones, some strategists noted, has to do with the fact that early voting in Virginia kicked off nearly a month ago. More than 521,000 people have cast a ballot as of Monday, according to the Virginia Public Access Project, amounting to about 16% of all the ballots cast in the 2021 governor’s race.
That also means that Jones would remain on the ballot regardless of whether he ended his campaign — with a complicated party-driven process in place that would determine how to name a new nominee with less than three weeks before Election Day.
But the issue has become a sticky one for Democrats across the board.
Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., told reporters last week that Jones’ texts were “indefensible,” but that he didn’t feel he should drop out.
“Jay has apologized,” Kaine said. “I’ve known Jay Jones for 25 years, and I think those statements were not in character,” adding, “I still am a supporter.”
Two other prominent Democrats — both prospective 2028 presidential contenders — offered a more severe condemnation, but also refrained from calling on Jones to drop out.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, who visited Virginia last week to stump for Spanberger, was asked in a recent Fox News interview if he would vote for Jones if he lived in Virginia.
“It would be a very, very tough one for me to look at,” Beshear said. “It’s just really wrong, and it bothers me.”
And Rep. Ro Khana, D-Calif., responding to a question on conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt's show, said that, “There’s no excuse for it.”
“I fully condemn it, and yeah, I mean, I haven’t followed all the details, but if he was actually saying that, I certainly wouldn’t support him,” Khanna said.
