Democrat AG Candidate Said He’d Put Two Bullets In Republican State Rep’s Head, ‘Piss On’ His Grave

By Hudson Crozier

Democratic Virginia Attorney General candidate Jay Jones sent disturbing texts about wanting to kill a Republican lawmaker, in August 2022.

Jones, a former Virginia state delegate, told Republican Delegate Carrie Coyner that he would give former Republican Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert “two bullets to the head” and urinate on his grave, National Review reported on Friday, citing text messages it obtained. Jones is running against Republican Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares in the November general elections and reportedly made the comments about Gilbert after leaving the state house months earlier. (RELATED: Sentencing Law Backed By Dems, Activists Led To Explosion Of Repeat Offenders, AG Says)

“I will go to their funerals to piss on their graves … [to] send them out awash in something,” Jones reportedly wrote about Republican colleagues such as Gilbert. The now-candidate also said that if he had Gilbert and two dictators in front of him and a gun with two bullets, “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,” Jones told Coyner.

Coyner asked Jones to “please stop,” adding, “It really bothers me when you talk about hurting people or wishing death on them … no matter who they are.” Jones replied with “Lol.”

Jones’ campaign, Miyares’ office and Gilbert’s staff at the Page County Commonwealth Attorney’s office did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s requests for comment.

The candidate blamed “Trump-controlled media” for the scandal in a statement to WTVR Richmond, but did not deny the conversations.

“Like all people, I’ve sent text messages that I regret and I believe that violent rhetoric has no place in our politics. Let’s be clear about what is happening in the Attorney General race right now: Jason Miyares is dropping smears through Trump-controlled media organizations to assault my character and rescue his desperate campaign,” Jones claimed.

After the text exchange in 2022, Jones called Coyner on the phone to further explain his views and said conservative public officials like Gilbert should experience pain so that it leads to policy change, National Review reported, citing a source familiar with the call. He also suggested Gilbert’s wife should watch her child die.

“Yes, I’ve told you this before,” Jones reportedly texted Coyner after she criticized what he said over the phone. “Only when people feel pain personally do they move on policy.”

National Review also posted screenshots of the reported text exchanges on X.

The private messages offer a disturbing glimpse into how Jones — who is looking to oust incumbent Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares this fall — describes his political adversaries in private conversations. pic.twitter.com/vvbtcn4vIQ

— National Review (@NRO) October 3, 2025

“On August 8, 2022 I had a text conversation with Jay Jones, what he said was not just disturbing but disqualifying for anyone who wants to seek public office,” Coyner told National Review. “Jay Jones wished violence on the children of a colleague and joked about shooting Todd Gilbert. It’s disgusting and unbecoming of any public official.”

Former Democratic Virginia Rep. Abigail Spanberger, who is now her party’s nominee for Virginia governor, said she spoke with Jones after hearing the story and told him “that he must fully take responsibility for his words,” WJLA reported.

The Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA) also called on Jones to resign from the upcoming election in a Friday statement posted on X. “Conservatives are being executed for their beliefs, and text messages like these are part of the problem,” RAGA Executive Director Adam Piper said. “Virginia deserves far better.”

Jones previously faced criticism about his personal conduct after news broke that he avoided jail after a 2022 reckless driving incident in Virginia by logging community service hours with his own political action committee — even though his reckless driving had included driving a whopping 116 miles per hour.

“Instead of taking accountability for his actions, it appears that my opponent submitted a letter to the Court stating that he performed 500 hours of ‘community service’ for his own PAC, which isn’t a charitable organization under state code, to dodge potential jail time,” Miyares said in a Wednesday X post. “This raises serious, troubling questions about Jay Jones’ judgment, his ability to uphold the law, and, ultimately, his qualifications for Attorney General.”

Jones previously lost the Democratic Virginia primary for attorney general in 2021 but won the 2025 primary in June.