The recent controversy surrounding Jay Jones’ text messages continues to shake up the Virginia attorney general race. According to the latest Trafalgar Group poll, Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares now holds a six-point lead over the embattled Democratic candidate. This marks a significant shift from their previous poll, where Miyares trailed by four points.

The scandal has also influenced other key races. Notably, both the gubernatorial and lieutenant governor contests have tightened significantly, with both now statistically tied and within the margin of error. This shift comes after the scandal emerged and the sole gubernatorial debate between Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears (R) and Abigail Spanberger (D) occurred.

In August 2022, Jones sent text messages in which he fantasized about killing then-Virginia Speaker of the House Todd Gilbert (R) with “two bullets to the head,” as well as imagining Gilbert’s children dying in his wife Jennifer’s arms. While Jones has admitted to sending these texts, he denies claims that he suggested in a phone call that the death of police officers might lead to changes in law enforcement tactics due to a lack of qualified immunity.

The texts Jones sent in August 2022 included him expressing fantasies about killing then-Virginia Speaker of the House Todd Gilbert (R) with “two bullets to the head,” and of Gilbert’s children dying in his wife Jennifer’s arms. Though Jones has acknowledged sending them, he has denied allegations that he remarked in a phone conversation that maybe if a few police officers were killed as a result of not having qualified immunity, law enforcement would change their tactics with suspects.