WASHINGTON, DC – At a time when Democratic attorneys general are actively combating Trump administration’s harmful federal overreaches and illegal power grabs, the race for Virginia attorney general takes on outsized importance. A new Wasington Post article discusses the impact Democratic attorneys general are having in protecting their states after successfully suing the administration and why it is crucial for Virginia to elect Democrat Jay Jones as the Commonwealth’s next attorney general.  

The Post’s Greg Schneider writes, “Jones, a former state lawmaker from Norfolk who is seeking to unseat Republican Attorney General Jason S. Miyares, wants voters to know that if they support checking the power of President Donald Trump, one of the most effective ways to do it is to elect a Democratic attorney general […] The attorney general’s race carries potential impact beyond the state’s borders…” 

While Miyares “has positioned himself as one of the White House’s top defenders” at the expense of Virginians, Jones is focused on voters “concerned about Trump’s policies affecting jobs, the economy, and access to health care.” 

 Key highlights:  

• “Attorneys general in states around the country have filed more than 30 lawsuits challenging Trump administration policies, but Virginia has taken part in none of them. Jerrauld ‘Jay’ Jones hopes to change that.”

• “Jones, a former state lawmaker from Norfolk who is seeking to unseat Republican Attorney General Jason S. Miyares, wants voters to know that if they support checking the power of President Donald Trump, one of the most effective ways to do it is to elect a Democratic attorney general.”
• “The attorney general’s race carries potential impact beyond the state’s borders, as Democrats hope to add Virginia to the ranks of blue states working to block Trump priorities such as imposing tariffs on international trade and cutting support for social relief programs.”
• Last week, the Democratic Attorneys General Association announced a $1.1 million contribution to the Jones campaign, coming on top of a $1 million donation in June. With another $1 million scheduled this week, according to DAGA, that’s the most the organization has ever put into a Virginia campaign, according to data provided by the Virginia Public Access Project.
• “‘With so much on the line, it’s crucial we take back this seat in November,’ DAGA spokeswoman Carolyn Fiddler said in announcing the contribution. ‘Virginia needs an attorney general who will stop at nothing to protect their rights and freedoms and defend against federal overreach.’”

• “Jones has released a criminal justice plan and held roundtables on issues of public safety, but his campaign says it is convinced that voters are especially concerned about Trump’s policies affecting jobs, the economy and access to health care.”
• “‘Wherever we go, people are focused on costs. It’s everyone’s number one issue, including mine,’ Jones said in an interview. He added that today, tackling the root causes of rising costs often involves ‘fighting back against the Trump administration. … To be able join in on that effort is going to be a really powerful benefit to Virginians.'”

• “In July, Campbell was co-leader of a suit filed by 24 states and the District of Columbia to stop the Trump administration from freezing some $7 billion in education funding. With pressure also coming from a bipartisan group in Congress, the Education Department released the funding later that month.”
• “An analysis last month by KFF Health News highlighted an imbalance between states that challenged the federal Department of Health and Human Services over $11 billion in canceled grants from the Centers for Disease Control: The two dozen blue states that filed suit recovered about 80 percent of their money. Red states that did not participate recovered 5 percent.”
• “‘We want Virginia to have what Minnesota and Michigan and Massachusetts have,’ Minnesota state Attorney General Keith Ellison (D) said in an interview.”
• “Virginia would be an important addition to the loose coalition, Ellison said, because it is more closely tied to the federal workforce and federal agencies than almost any other state, with more than 320,000 federal workers living there.”
• “‘We gotta have [a Virginia] AG who cares about the interests of those folks,’ Ellison said.”

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