ROANOKE, VA – This interview was conducted in September 2025, prior to a controversy involving text messages sent by Democratic nominee Jay Jones in 2022. For Jones’s response to the controversy, click here.
The 2025 race for Virginia attorney general is drawing attention as voters look for leadership on issues from public safety to abortion access.
10 News anchor Abbie Coleman met with both candidates to explore their priorities, their plans, and how they would approach the top legal office in the Commonwealth.
She sat down one-on-one with Democratic candidate Jay Jones to discuss his vision for Virginia and why he believes he’s the right person for the job.
You can watch Republican incumbent Jason Miyares’ interview here.
Read the full transcript of Abbie’s interview with Jones below.
Thank you so much for joining us this morning.
Thank you for having me.
Jay Jones
I want to start off by talking a little bit about your background, for people who may not know who you are. Tell me a little about your background and why you decided to jump into this attorney general race.
Well, I’m just the son and grandson of civil rights leaders from Norfolk, Virginia, people who taught me everything that I know about putting community first. My grandfather was the first Black person appointed to the school board in Norfolk, and later became the first Black member of the State Board of Education. My father, Jerrauld Jones, was one of a few people to serve in all three branches of government in Virginia. He also served in the House of Delegates. And I tried to pick up their legacy as a member of the House of Delegates. We did amazing things. We expanded Medicaid, raised teacher pay, increased the minimum wage. I’ve been an assistant attorney general for the District of Columbia, doing consumer protection, where we took on the gun lobby and put the largest ghost gun manufacturer, Polymer80, out of business because we want to keep our communities safe. I’ve been in the private sector for the last few years, advocating on behalf of organizations that are committed to voting rights and other civil rights and civil liberties. And so I think all of those things lend [themselves] to this moment where we need an attorney general who’s going to step up and put Virginia first to protect us.
Jay Jones
What are your top priorities right now, and if you were elected, what are you getting started on on day one?
Well, we certainly want to put Virginia first. These last eight and a half months have been incredibly challenging with what’s coming out of Washington, and how that’s impacting us here in Virginia... The cuts to the federal workforce, the federal funding issues, the attacks on healthcare, that are decimating our little hospital systems across this commonwealth, and so we want to join those lawsuits that will put Virginia first and let us hang on to our resources, our livelihoods, and those foundational things that are really important to us. And we want to make sure that we attack this cost issue. Everywhere we go across Virginia, people are talking about rising costs, inflation, how these tariffs are hurting our regional economies. And so that’s why we offered our lower cost plan just a couple of weeks ago, because we are laser-focused on trying to alleviate these burdens that we see that are impacting Virginians from corner to corner.
Jay Jones
Virginia is a very unique state. You can go up to Northern Virginia, and it can feel like a completely different state than what’s down here in Southwest Virginia. What have you heard from voters here in Southwest Virginia, and how do you plan to address those concerns if you are elected?
Well, we certainly spend a lot of time here in Southwest Virginia, and I have loved every single second of it over the years. What we’ve really tried to do is come and listen. We want to have our ears open and our mouth closed, so that we can understand the needs of our brothers and sisters out here in Southwest Virginia, and of course, the economy is important. We talk about these tariffs that have really hurt our regional economies. No one has been spared from the pain of that, so we get to join a lawsuit to protect Virginia from these tariffs, which, as of now, a court has declared to be illegal. And then certainly healthcare. The [One Big Beautiful Bill Act] that was passed this summer stands to close seven rural hospitals. [We are] certainly understanding that people here in Southwest Virginia need access to that care. We want to make sure that people aren’t yanked off of the rolls of Medicaid, where they project 350,000 people will lose access to critical healthcare. And so we want to protect that. That’s going to be a big thing for us, because that’s what they’ve listened to from so many people here in Southwest Virginia. Just a few weeks ago, we were in Buena Vista at the Labor Day Parade, and I was talking about the impacts of this bill, and the closures of these regional health care facilities, and then three days later, one of the health care providers out in Augusta said, “Hey, we have to close three clinics because of the bill.” So we want to make sure that we’re protecting access to healthcare. That’s a fundamental thing that’s really important to people here in Southwest Virginia, and obviously, people’s pocketbooks in these very challenging economic times. I think we can use the attorney general’s office in an affirmative way to really help people in these challenging times.
Jay Jones
There are a lot of families that are concerned that they are going to lose their access to a healthcare plan. How do you plan to address this to make sure that families aren’t falling through the cracks, in addition to these regional hospitals?
Well, you know, I’m really proud of my record where I voted to expand Medicaid here in the Commonwealth seven years ago. Where we afforded 400,000 people at that time the opportunity to get on a healthcare plan because we knew how critical in need that was. And that was a bipartisan effort spanning Democrats, Republicans from every part of this commonwealth. My opponent voted against it, but it’s long been an issue of mine where we want to make sure people have that access. And so as attorney general, we’re going to sue to protect people’s access to these critical healthcare needs. When you see these facilities closing, that is the difference between life and death, where you have a facility that’s 15 or 20 minutes away versus one or two hours away. So this is a really, really big deal, and that’s something that we’ve heard about time and time again on our travels down here to the valley and into Southwest Virginia, because we know how important of an issue it is for people, and it doesn’t matter what political party you are, what race or gender, everyone’s got health care issues, and they deserve to be able to get that care when they need it.
Jay Jones
A lot of Virginians are feeling the squeeze from higher prices. Specifically, what we’ve heard from our viewers is utility costs. How does the attorney general’s office play a role in strengthening the economy and easing that burden on families?
Well, you know, I’m really proud of the Lowering Cost Plan we put out just a few weeks ago, and a big piece of that is making sure that we hold the utility companies accountable so that the ratepayers have to pay the fair share, and not anything more, and not anything less. But we want to hold those people accountable so that they’re not artificially increasing prices and that we end up getting the short end of the stick. I have long tried to hold Dominion Energy and our other energy providers accountable, so the ratepayer is the priority. And that’s the job as the attorney general. You’re supposed to represent the consumer. The fiduciary duty runs to them, not to the utility companies. I am very proud of my record of standing up for the little guy against the big, well-funded corporations. And that is a part of our Lowering Cost Plan, too, to have the assets and resources in the office to go up against Dominion Energy and the others so that we can really get a fair shot for people across Virginia who deserve to pay a fair bill and not get charged over what they’re supposed to, which we’ve seen has really been a burden for people, especially in these last eight and a half months.
Jay Jones
A big topic of conversation has been education, specifically parental rights when it comes to transgender students in schools. If elected, what would your approach be to that issue?
Well, I’m a parent. I have two young boys. My son Charles is three, and my other son Zachary is 14 months old. They will be school age here very shortly. And so I, like every other parent across this commonwealth, has a vested interest in making sure that our schools are safe and that we support our children. And as attorney general, my job is to support school systems, parents, teachers, children on down the line. And so we will do that. And I look forward to working with the localities, who are pursuing their best interests and making the decisions that they’re making, so that I can enforce the law. That’s my job. I hold people accountable, I enforce the law. And we just want to make sure that our schools are safe. That’s why we rolled out our public safety plan a few weeks ago. A big piece of that is child safety. And so we have really been focused in on that, and I think that the dedicated child safety unit, that we proposed creating, will really play a large role in keeping our children safe both in school and out of school as well.
Jay Jones
Let’s talk a little bit about abortion and reproductive access. You have been a very strong proponent of protecting abortion and reproductive access. If you were elected, what steps would you take to kind of further that?
Well, I get to enforce the laws that are on the books, and right now, Virginia remains the only southern state where a woman has access to abortion and to make her own healthcare decisions. I’ve long supported that and will continue to do so as attorney general. What we face in January 2026 is the constitutional amendment that will be before the General Assembly for a second time to enshrine that right into the Constitution. I obviously support that, and look forward to defending that as attorney general. We want to make sure that women feel safe here in Virginia, that they have the access to the healthcare that they need, and can make the decisions and choices that they want and leave that between them and their doctor. I will always continue to fight for that, and we’ll use the attorney general’s office to support women here in this commonwealth.
Jay Jones
Your opponent is currently running ads claiming that you are soft on crime. How do you want to respond to those statements, and what do you want voters to know about your record on public safety and criminal justice?
Well, I’m proud of my record as it relates to public safety. In the General Assembly, we funded law enforcement at the highest levels in the history of this commonwealth. Jason Miyares, my opponent, voted against that increase. We cracked down on child sex offenders and on human trafficking. As an assistant attorney general, I’ve got ghost guns off of our streets and out of our communities, and so I’m proud of the work that I’ve done to this point. And then the public safety plan that we put out just a few weeks ago [has] three key pillars: One, stopping violent crime and supporting victims. The second, getting illegal guns off the street. And the third prong, keeping our children safe, lends itself to this moment. That plan was created in conjunction with state and local law enforcement, community leaders, and other interested folks across this commonwealth, so that we can meet the needs of now, be dynamic, and be responsive, and that we can really get something done here in Virginia to make it as safe a place as possible.
Jay Jones
You are currently leading in the polls. We are kind of rounding that final corner in this race. Early voting has already started. How do you plan to keep up that momentum as we run this final lap?
Well, the only poll that really matters is the one on Election Day, but we are encouraged. And I think what you’ve seen is our campaign has been very aggressive in listening to people across this Commonwealth. We’ve traveled near and far, making sure that we leave no stone unturned. And when you are being responsive to the needs and challenges of people in this moment, I think that’s what’s going to validate us at the ballot box. When you see these attacks from Washington, whether it be on our regional economies, through the tariffs, to our federal government workforce, on the healthcare system, people are looking for action, not someone who’s just going to be a rubber stamp to the president. As attorney general, I will work for the people of Virginia. They are my client. We’ll do everything we can to put Virginia first, to make sure we protect our resources, protect our money, protect our livelihoods, and protect our people across the state.
Jay Jones
I think it helps voters to understand their candidates on a personal level. If you were elected, what would this milestone mean to you personally?
I would be the first Black attorney general in the history of this Commonwealth, and [that is] certainly something that is an important piece of it for me, but we want to get the job done. I think what you’ve not seen over these last three and a half years is action. Right? It’s been inaction and passivity. We want to stand up for Virginia. And so no matter your race, creed or color, I get to work on behalf of people here in this commonwealth. That’s the exciting thing for me, but I get run on a ticket with two other incredible individuals. And we’ve got candidates at the House of Delegates level and local level who are really invested in their communities who want to do better. I think we can turn the page come November 4th, 2025 and, head into 2026 with a really strong group of people coming into Richmond who are really focused on getting things done, putting Virginia first, and getting some results, so we can bring common sense back to the commonwealth and get us back on track.
Jay Jones
Is there anything else that I didn’t touch on that you kind of want to add about your campaign as we round this final corner?
I hope everyone gets out to go vote. We’ve made it very, very easy to go vote in this commonwealth. I’m proud of the work that we did in the General Assembly a few years ago to take Virginia from the 49th hardest state in the country to vote, to the 11th easiest. Early vote, Sunday voting, same-day registration. This is everyone’s opportunity to make their voices heard. If you feel like you’re feeling the heat, feeling the burn, and feeling these challenges, this is your chance to step up and make your voice count. And I encourage everyone to go do so, and I hope I can get their support for attorney general come November 4th.
Jay Jones
All right, Jay, thank you so much for joining us this morning.
Thanks a lot, really appreciate you.
Jay Jones