By Ireland Owens
Virginia Democrats’ motion urging the state supreme court to temporarily halt its order against the 2026 gerrymandering referendum includes two major typos.
Virginia Attorney General Jay Jones, alongside Virginia House Speaker Don Scott and State Sen. Louise Lucas, petitioned the Supreme Court of Virginia to delay its order which struck down the gerrymandering referendum. (The gerrymandering referendum was struck down because it did not comply with the procedural requirements of Article XII, Section 1 of Virginia’s state constitution).
The joint motion’s first page misspells “Virginia” in the section identifying the plantiff and, just below it, misspells “senator” when identifying the defendants. (RELATED: Lone Protester Bravely Defends Gerrymandering By Pacing Angrily In Front Of Virginia Supreme Court)
“DON SCOTT, in his official capacity as Speaker of the Virgnia House of Delegates, et al.,” the motion submitted by Virginia Solicitor General Tillman Breckenridge opens, before also misspelling the defendant’s title as “sentator” (emphasis added).
Several individuals on social media were quick to pan the typos included in the motion.
“Learning to spell Virginia would be a start,” one X user wrote, along with a screenshot of the motion.
“Waiting for someone else to notice the glaring misspelling,” another person posted on X.
Jay Jones was elected Virginia’s attorney general in 2025 despite a controversial past. In 2022, Jay Jones said he would put “two bullets” in a state representative’s head, and “piss on” his grave, after that representative, Todd Gilbert, memorialized the life of a deceased moderate Democratic legislator (Jones, a progressive, disliked that deceased Democrat, Joe Johnson, for being too moderate). Jones also allegedly wished that Gilbert’s wife should experience the death of her child.
Jones was convicted in 2022 of reckless driving in New Kent County after being stopped for driving 116 mph in a 70 mph zone. He was ordered to pay a $1,500 fine and perform 1,000 hours of community service. Jones spent 500 of those hours working for his own political action committee, which may not have qualified as valid community service.
ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA – APRIL 21: Voters arrive before casting their ballots at a polling location at the Westover Library on April 21, 2026 in Arlington, Virginia. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
In response to the Supreme Court of Virginia’s decision, Democratic House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, in a Friday statement, claimed that “decision to overturn an entire election is an unprecedented and undemocratic action that cannot stand.”
“MAGA Republicans have adopted voter suppression as a strategy,” Jeffries added. “We are exploring all options to overturn this shocking decision.”
Meanwhile, Republican National Committee Chairman Joe Gruters wrote in a Friday statement posted to X that the ruling was a “HUGE WIN FOR ELECTION INTEGRITY.”
