Latest news with #JasonMiyares
Washington Post
07-07-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Virginia's top prosecutor targets drugs, crime — and Northern Va. schools
In the three years since taking office, Virginia Attorney General Jason S. Miyares set his sights on what he sees as problems in the state's public schools. Miyares has revisited the issues of diversity and gender identity in schools in recent months, grabbing the attention of the Trump administration and resulting in two federal investigations.
Fox News
02-07-2025
- Business
- Fox News
‘Don't Maryland my Virginia': Youngkin, 2025 GOP ticket rallies together for first time ahead of key election
TYSONS CORNER, Va. – Outgoing Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin headlined a major rally Monday for the statewide Republican ticket in the 2025 election, visiting the heavily-Democratic confines of Fairfax County to deliver their message and draw contrasts between themselves and blue states like their trans-Potomac neighbor. Youngkin, his potential successor, GOP nominee Winsome Earle-Sears, lieutenant gubernatorial nominee John Reid, Attorney General Jason Miyares and former FBI Agent Stewart Whitson; the Republican hoping to win a major upset for the late Rep. Gerry Connolly's seat, all spoke to a crowd of more than 500 that packed into the sweltering Vienna fire hall on Monday. "Are you ready to sweep?" Youngkin fired up the crowd, hearkening back multiple times to his own sweep in 2021, when he, Earle-Sears and Miyares all won upset victories against former Gov. Terry McAuliffe, who was leading the Democratic ticket then. Youngkin said he and the statewide candidates assembled all proved that Virginia could bounce back from the McAuliffe-Northam era, which he characterized as pockmarked by COVID-19 lockdowns, and businesses and families fleeing the state. "The last time the Democrats had full control of the commonwealth of Virginia, they tried to turn her into California. Or as Winsome said, maybe even Maryland," Youngkin said, contrasting the Old Dominion with the Old Line State in terms of taxation, education and business-friendly environs. Youngkin said that since about the end of the administration of Gov. Bob McDonnell in 2014, Virginia progressively sank to the bottom third of the U.S. in job growth, and a decade straight of more people leaving than moving in. "Don't Maryland my Virginia," he said. Across the Potomac, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore has been widely rumored as a potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate, while Republicans, including predecessor Larry Hogan, have criticized tax hikes and budget woes. Fox News Digital reached out to Moore for a response to Youngkin. Both Youngkin and Earle-Sears had just returned from the Monday ribbon-cutting of the country's now-northernmost Buc-ee's travel center near Harrisonburg, which the duo said proved Virginia is "open for business" and added hundreds of jobs in Rockingham County. That theme carried into Wednesday, as Earle-Sears pledged to build on the past four years of progress and focus on convincing rural communities that Richmond hasn't forgotten them. There were also references made to New York City Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani, a democratic socialist from Queens. Earle-Sears warned that some candidates in Virginia in this year's election are espousing "ideas… that are socialist in nature." Virginia's GOP ticket is notably diverse, with Earle-Sears, Reid – who would be the first gay statewide officeholder – and Miyares, who is of Cuban descent. Outside the fire hall, amid sporadic thundershowers and incredible humidity, a few dozen left-wing demonstrators utilized a megaphone to protest the event, holding signs and banners claiming Republicans are trying to kill Medicaid. Also in attendance was Whitson, who has a major climb to defeat Connolly confidant and Fairfax County Supervisor James Walkinshaw. But the ex-G-man was upbeat, saying Democrats who ushered in years of "destructive" policies like DEI and reckless spending have "destroyed our economy," and the folks in the Washington suburbs he hopes to represent are realizing that as well. "It's time for us to have a U.S. congressman in Northern Virginia who actually cares about the people and the issues that matter," he said. Miyares reflected on the changes he's seen under four years of Republican control of the executive branch, quipping that Virginia in 2021 had been "like when you watch those mafia movies and the guy wakes up in the trunk of the Buick and he doesn't know where he's headed, but he knows it's not a good final destination." Reid called Wednesday "commitment day," as he spoke before the assembled GOP ticket. Miyares faces Del. Jerrauld "Jay" Jones, D-Norfolk, Reid faces state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, D-Chesterfield, and Earle-Sears faces former Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va, in the general election.
Fox News
27-06-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Virginia sheriffs rip Dem challenger's 'criminals first' agenda in fiery endorsement of Jason Miyares
FIRST ON FOX: A group of 19 Virginia sheriffs has thrown their political weight behind incumbent Attorney General Jason Miyares after Democrats nominated former Virginia state Del. Jay Jones to challenge him in November. "The choice is clear. The decision is ours," the group of Virginia sheriffs said in a letter to their colleagues just days after the primary. The sheriffs praised Miyares' "commitment to Virginia's law enforcement community and first responders" and urged their fellow Virginia sheriffs to coalesce behind the incumbent attorney general for re-election. Jones, a former assistant attorney general, has centered his campaign on protecting Virginia from President Donald Trump's administration. In a letter to the sheriffs of Virginia, the group of 19 sheriffs frame Jones' policy platform as anti-law enforcement. "Jay Jones has been an outspoken advocate of the many tools weaponized to weaken Virginia's law enforcement community, replacing prosecutors with social workers, who put criminals first and victims dead last. The litany of legislation aimed not at criminals but at law enforcement is not just a failure of policy, but a policy designed to fail Virginia families," the sheriffs said. They touted the "tremendous progress Virginia's law enforcement professionals have achieved over the last four years," as the sheriffs urged their colleagues to prevent Jones from returning a "tidal wave of lawlessness, violence, and illicit drug activity." "We ask that you join so many of us in the law enforcement community in standing united in our support of Attorney General Jason Miyares and ask each and every single member of Virginia law enforcement community to remind our friends, families, and local communities to remember the difference four years makes. We cannot go back to four more years of lawlessness, violence, and resistance to the men and women who serve," the sheriffs said. In the letter, the sheriffs outlined legislation supported by Jones they say is "designed to fail Virginia families." Those policies include investigating law enforcement for "pattern and practice" violations, causing "direct harm to Virginians" through Enhanced Earned Sentencing Credits (EESC), eliminating cashless bail and supporting qualified immunity, which they said would make it easier to sue police officers for civil rights violations. They also detailed Jones' support for eliminating mandatory minimum sentencing for selling drugs to minors in schools and school resource officers (SROs), which they said makes schools more dangerous. The letter was signed by Virginia Sheriffs Kyle M. Moore, William Kidd Jr., Travis M. Sumption, Richard A. Vaughan, Hank Partin, Robert Richardson, Whit W. Clark III, Darrell L. Hodges, Wayne Davis, Bryan Hutcheson, Mike Miller, Kevin Kemp, Jeremy Flemming, Donald Lowe, Brian Hieatt, Brian K. Roberts, Jayson Crawley, Jeremy A. Falls and Donald T. Sloan. Virginia is one of two states holding statewide elections this year, and the election results will be used as a bellwether ahead of the competitive 2026 midterm elections. On the campaign trail, Jones has applauded how attorneys general have sued the Trump administration to unlock federal funding and reject executive overreach, "but here in Virginia, MAGA extremist Attorney General Jason Miyares has put politics first and refused to join in the effort to defend against unconstitutional and un-American Trump policies." "Virginia needs leaders who will put Virginia first. Who will stand up to the powerful corporate special interests. Who will stand up for the rule of law. Who will keep us safe. And that's exactly what I will do as your attorney general," Jones said after securing the Democratic nomination for attorney general last week. Jones did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.
Washington Post
24-06-2025
- Politics
- Washington Post
Virginia Democrats sue university heads over Youngkin appointees
A group of Virginia Senate Democrats sued the rectors of three public universities, an unusual step escalating their effort to remove several of Gov. Glenn Youngkin's appointees to their boards amid a fight over how to govern the state's colleges. The lawsuit alleges the Youngkin administration — namely Youngkin (R), Virginia Attorney General Jason S. Miyares (R) and Secretary of Education Aimee Guidera — are trying to usurp legislators' authority by ignoring a recent vote by a Senate committee to reject some appointees to the boards of the University of Virginia, George Mason University and Virginia Military Institute.
Yahoo
19-06-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Virginia Democrats coalesce as primary election sets statewide ticket. Will Republicans?
Virginia Democrats solidified their statewide ticket Tuesday, voting for state Sen. Ghazala Hashmi as the nominee for lieutenant governor and former Del. Jay Jones as the nominee for attorney general in the state's primary elections. Before the lieutenant governor's primary had been called, Democratic gubernatorial nominee Abigail Spanberger issued her congratulations, calling Hashmi a 'proven leader.' With the stage set for Virginia's bellwether election, Spanberger, Hashmi and Jones put out a joint statement Wednesday emphasizing their unified campaign. 'As the Democratic ticket running to serve as Virginia's next Governor, Lieutenant Governor, and Attorney General, we are united in our focus on the issues that matter to our fellow Virginians,' they wrote. Hashmi and Jones are scheduled appear at stops along Spanberger's planned eight-day bus tour around the commonwealth, according to a spokesperson for her campaign. The tour kicks off Saturday in Richmond, making its way throughout the state until ending in Hampton Roads on June 28. That's a markedly different strategy from Virginia Republicans, who have had a set statewide ticket since April but have thus far been going it alone. Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, incumbent Attorney General Jason Miyares, and conservative radio host John Reid are the party's nominees for governor, attorney general and lieutenant governor, but have yet to appear together in public. The parties' tickets are notably diverse — without a straight white man nominated for any of the positions. In an interview at the end of May, Reid said he had not spoken to Gov. Glenn Youngkin since the governor asked him to step down as the nominee. At the time, Youngkin cited a social media account that posted risqué images of men that matched the username of other accounts Reid used. With DEI under attack, here's how Virginia's diverse slate of candidates talk about identity On Wednesday, Reid for the first time shared a graphic of the Republican statewide ticket to social media with the caption 'The GOP ticket is ready to lead.' Neither Earle-Sears nor Miyares had posted anything similar at press time. In the aftermath of Youngkin's phone call and Reid's refusal to step down, Earle-Sears briefly acknowledged that Reid was the nominee, but has not mentioned him on social media since. 'We all have our own race to run,' she said at the time. In Tuesday's Democratic and Republican primaries, Hampton Roads voters also decided who will represent them in the November general election for House Districts 70, 89 and 97. ____ Hashmi, who will be the first Muslim and first Indian-American to appear on a ballot for statewide office, emerged victorious from a field of six running for the party's nomination for lieutenant governor with 27.5% of the vote. 'Today, we've made history yet again, not just by winning this primary, but by declaring with one voice that Virginia is not going to be bullied or broken or dragged backwards by the chaos that's unfolding in Washington,' she said Tuesday night. The next closest candidate, former Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, conceded the race Wednesday morning with 26.7% of the vote. State Sen. Aaron Rouse of Virginia Beach finished in third with 26.1% of the vote and conceded Tuesday night. Three other Democrats trailed, each earning less than 10% of the vote, according to unofficial results from the state Department of Elections. In a video Tuesday night, Reid congratulated Hashmi, welcomed her to the campaign trail — then went on the attack. 'Sen. Hashmi, sadly, has been one of the biggest cheerleaders for the high taxes, anti-business, trans radicalism, and government-knows-better-than-parents attitude that's crushing our families and endangering our future,' he said. ____ Two Hampton Roads candidates will compete in November's election. Jones, of Norfolk, won a close race with 51% of the vote against Henrico Commonwealth's Attorney Shannon Taylor. He will face Miyares of Virginia Beach in the general election. At a party in Norfolk, Jones said Tuesday he was ready to fight and to win and called Miyares Donald Trump's 'pro bono lawyer.' 'We deserve better,' said Jones, who represented parts of Norfolk in the House of Delegates from 2018 to 2021. 'We can do better, and we will get better this November.' Miyares, who represented parts of Virginia Beach in the House from 2016 to 2021, fired shots of his own in a statement posted to X. 'My opponent's ideological record makes Virginia families less safe and our streets more violent,' he wrote. 'The law is a shield to keep people safe, not a sword for social justice warriors or a platform for grand social experiments.' ____ In Newport News, Republicans voted for Cynthia Scaturico to represent the party against incumbent Democrat Del. Shelly Simonds to represent House District 70. Scaturico beat Hailey Dollar, a newcomer to politics, with 74% of the vote. Scaturico previously held a board of supervisors seat in Iowa before moving to Newport News. She said her priorities included protecting workers' rights, education reform and local homelessness. Voters in Chesapeake and Suffolk chose also Democrat Karen 'Kacey' Carnegie and Republican Mike Lamonea to meet in the November House District 89 race. Carnegie beat Blaizen Buckshot Bloom with more than 77% of the vote as of Wednesday. 'With tonight's win, we're one step closer to flipping HD-89 — one of the most competitive districts in Virginia — and expanding the Democratic majority in the House of Delegates,' Carnegie said in a release. Lamonea beat Kristen Shannon with 66% of the vote as of Wednesday. 'As we turn our focus to November, I look forward to continuing the conversation with voters about lowering taxes, improving education, protecting our constitutional rights and ensuring safe communities,' he said Tuesday night. And Virginia Beach Republicans overwhelmingly voted for Tim Anderson to compete against Democratic incumbent Del. Michael Feggans. Anderson, an attorney, won the House District 97 primary against Christina Felder with about 92% of the vote. The attorney and former delegate said he wants to substantially lower the car tax, and instead use Virginia's budget surplus to reimburse localities for the lost revenue. 'We ran a clean message on eliminating the car tax, and it resonated overwhelming with the district,' Anderson said by phone Tuesday night. 'Virginia has the surplus to do it. That's going to be our campaign promise.' Staff writers Trevor Metcalfe, Stacy Parker, Natalie Anderson and Devlin Epding contributed to this report. Kate Seltzer, 757-713-7881, kateseltzer@
