Del. Kim Taylor (R–Petersburg) is calling on Democrat Attorney General candidate Jay Jones to withdraw from the race, citing his graphic and violent text messages wishing death on former Republican House Speaker Todd Gilbert as “beyond disqualifying.”
She is also linking his rhetoric to a broader rise in political violence, including threats she herself recently faced.
“Jay Jones’ vile and violent comments are beyond disqualifying,” Taylor told the Richmond Leader. “This is a mask-down moment for Democrats, and the silence from their national party leaders tells you everything you need to know. Just weeks after a threat was made against my own life, I know how dangerous this rhetoric is. Jones should drop out of the race immediately, and Democrats should have the backbone to say so.”
Taylor’s remarks come just weeks after a 33-year-old Dinwiddie man was arrested for allegedly sending her a politically motivated death threat.
Taylor’s campaign reported to law enforcement.
“Delegate Taylor is safe and doing well,” a spokesperson for Taylor’s campaign said at the time. “She is grateful for the decisive action of law enforcement and remains focused on serving her constituents. No threat will distract her from the work she was elected to do.”
The suspect was taken into custody on felony charges.
“A threat was made against my own life, I know how dangerous this rhetoric is,” Taylor said. “Jones should drop out of the race immediately, and Democrats should have the backbone to say so.”
The scandal around Jones erupted when 2022 private messages were leaked, showing him fantasizing about executing Gilbert and mocking the deaths of political enemies.
In one message, Jones wrote, “Three people, two bullets Gilbert, hitler, and pol pot. Gilbert gets two bullets to the head. Spoiler: put Gilbert in the crew with the two worst people you know and he receives both bullets every time.”
Another read, “If those guys die before me I will go to their funerals to piss on their graves.”
When Republican Delegate Carrie Coyner, the recipient of the texts, pushed back, Jones responded, “Lol / Ok, ok,” but later justified his rhetoric by saying, “l’ve told you this before. Only when people feel pain personally do they move on policy.”
He also referred to Gilbert and his wife as “evil” and accused them of “breeding little fascists.”
The scandal has intensified as additional remarks from Jones have come to light, including a comment made during a 2020 policy conversation in which he allegedly said police may reconsider their treatment of citizens should more of them be killed.
“Well, maybe if a few of them died, that they would move on, not shooting people, not killing people,” Jones allegedly said.
Jones has denied making those comments, according to the New York Post.
Jones, for his part, has apologized, calling the messages “a grave mistake” and saying he was “embarrassed, ashamed, and sorry.” He claims to have reached out to the Gilbert family to apologize directly.
But Republican leaders say Jones’ apology regarding his violent rhetoric aimed at Gilbert is insufficient and are using the episode to question Jones’s temperament and fitness for the attorney general’s office as the campaign reaches its final weeks.
Democrat Kimberly Adams, who is challenging Taylor in a rematch after losing the race by just 78 votes in 2023, has refused to speak out against Jones. With control of the House of Delegates hanging in the balance, Adams is backed by major Democratic investments, including funding from the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee.
The fallout has been swift and fierce among top Virginia Republicans, including Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears and Attorney General Jason Miyares, have all denounced Jones and demanded he end his campaign.
“There is no ‘Gosh, I’m sorry’ here. Jones doesn’t have the morality or character to drop out of this race,” Youngkin wrote in a social media post.
Earle-Sears, who is running to replace Youngkin, called Jones “consumed with hate,” accusing him of promoting a culture of “rage politics.”
Miyares addressed the issue in an open letter to Virginians.
“Jay Jones wished for the violent death of a political opponent and then fantasized about that opponent’s children dying in their mother’s arms,” Miyares said. “When confronted, he doubled down, saying that kind of grief and pain would be a good thing if it advanced his politics. And politics aside, one has to be coming from a dark place to advocate the murder of a colleague and their family. This conduct is disqualifying.”
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump has commented on Earle-Sears’ opponent, Democrat gubernatorial nominee Abigail Spanberger, for refusing to publicly disavow Jones after violent texts of his resurfaced.
“Radical Left Lunatic, Jay Jones, who is running against Jason Miyares, the great Attorney General in Virginia, made sick and demented jokes, if they were jokes at all, which were not funny, and that he wrote down and sent around to people, concerning the murdering of a Republican Legislator, his wife, and their children,” Trump said on Truth Social. “Abigail Spanberger, who is running for Governor, is weak and ineffective, and refuses to acknowledge what this Lunatic has done.”
The scrutiny of Jones’ comments comes amid a wave of leftist-linked political violence, including two assassination attempts on Trump, the September 10 killing of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, the murder of two Israeli embassy staffers and the point-blank murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in a New York City street.
The wave of leftist violence also includes at least eight attacks on U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facilities, one resulting in two deaths from sniper fire and another in which an ICE agent was shot in the neck.
Taylor previously posted about Kirk’s assassination.
“Charlie was a passionate voice, a patriot, and a friend to many,” Taylor said on Facebook. “My heart breaks for his beautiful family, and I pray they find comfort in this time of unimaginable loss. We must all reject the dangerous rhetoric that dehumanizes others and recognize the value of every life.”
