Former Norfolk Del. Jay Jones, one of two Democratic candidates to become Virginia’s next attorney general, says he's running to protect Virginia families in the age of Donald Trump — something he says Virginia's current AG, Republican Jason Miyares, is not doing.
VPM News reporter Jahd Khalil recently spoke with Jones, who faces Henrico Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor in a Democratic primary on June 17, about a potential general election showdown with Miyares and his stances on the key issues facing Virginians.
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.
Jahd Khalil: Can you tell me why you want to be attorney general?
Jay Jones: We are lucky to have a whole bunch of folks who have stepped up to run for public office, and I think everybody should be commended for that. But I've served in the Legislature. We expanded Medicaid, increased teacher pay, raised the minimum wage, did tremendous things.
I've been an assistant attorney general doing consumer protection — which is what the Virginia Attorney General's Office should be doing, and they have not been doing for the last three years — and we went after the big banks, big tech companies, the folks who make us less safe and less secure.
I've been litigating against Gov. [Glenn] Youngkin and Jason Miyares for the last couple years in court, and had success there, too.
I'm glad that you talked about consumer protection. How do you envision that consumer protection role for the AG in Virginia?
I can't wait to build out the office and really fully staff up the consumer protection unit to go after the price gougers — the pharmaceutical companies who are inflating prices and making it hard for people to obtain their prescription drugs. To go after the corporate landlords who are making it impossible for people to put a roof over their head, even if they're working two or three jobs.
You were proposing an Office of Civil Rights within the AG’s office. Can you talk a bit about that in terms of building out infrastructure in the AG’s office?
I did propose the creation of an Office of Civil Rights four years ago. It was ultimately created, and has since been hollowed out. We also obviously want to fully empower the consumer protection unit in this office to go and be the best one in the country.
Another piece that I'm very proud of is a labor justice unit — to go after folks who are misclassifying workers, folks who are taking advantage of working Virginians. That's something that I think we desperately need, and I'm looking forward to creating that when we get into office.
How do you see the legal status of skill games in Virginia and how companies are interpreting that?
It's all about protecting people and making sure that we are engaging our communities, talking to them about what they think is best for them. The Legislature seems like they are addressing it, or trying to address it. Once they resolve that from a legislative perspective, we'll be able to take our assessment and go forward using the law that's on the books — or not on the books.
Are there particular things that you're interested in continuing that [Miyares’] office is doing? Are there certain things that you're interested in stopping?
Well, everything that's driven by the partisan political agenda that he takes from Fox News, we’re certainly opposed to that.
Are you able to give some examples?
He targeted students in Loudoun County, and that lawsuit was thrown out. He targeted an election official in Prince William County; that was thrown out.
We want to make this office work for everybody, and so that's why we want to go after the price gougers who are inflating the cost of prescription drugs [and] the corporate landlords who are artificially inflating the cost of rent in these moments when we're having a housing crisis.
Part of this partisanship is about what issues you want to be joining with other attorneys general on.
Every time that Jason Miyares doesn't join one of these lawsuits, we don't get to benefit in those successes. Those states have had the opportunity to protect their federal workers, to protect their research funding, which trickles down to your hospitals, which trickles down to your higher education institutions.
On our first day, we'll join those lawsuits. What's really exciting is that Virginia is in the Fourth Circuit, and we have what I believe to be decent judges and good case law to go on offense against the administration should they overreach.
How do you, as AG, protect reproductive rights for Virginians?
This is an issue that's very important to me. I'm a board member for Planned Parenthood on the care side, and now we are working our way through the legislative process with the amendment to enshrine abortion rights in the Constitution of Virginia, and then as attorney general, I get to defend the Constitution of Virginia.
What do you think your approach is going to be to criminal justice reform?
I have a long track record of being a justice reformer in the House of Delegates, and certainly have been working on behalf of the NAACP to protect voting rights in Virginia.
That's something that's personal to me. My grandparents were all involved in the Civil Rights Movement. We need to let people know that there is a way for people to be pro-reform and also pro-public safety. They're not mutually exclusive.
The current administration has become much more involved with immigration enforcement. The current attorney general talks about immigration a lot. What would be your approach?
You know, immigration is personal for me. My in-laws are immigrants. My wife is an immigrant. She moved to America when she was 4 years old, and they've been citizens for over 30 years now.
But we want to make sure we're keeping our community safe, and so whether you break the law as an immigrant or as a citizen, we're going to enforce the law against you. We want to make sure that we're working with local law enforcement, that everybody is singing from the same sheet of music and there isn't any confusion from the federal and state authorities about what law enforcement is supposed to be doing.
Is there anything that you think is important about your run that we haven't hit on?
It's very clear that Virginia needs someone who's going to step up and fight and be a leader to push back on the excesses of Washington. So many people across Virginia have told me their story. In Botetourt County, these folks are worried about whether their community hospital is going to close. And I know I'm the best person to go and do that. I'll never back down from Donald Trump.
Someone said to me the other day, “Are you worried about him tweeting about you?” I said, “Bring it on, because we'll be in court right on day one. We're going to sue him into oblivion to make sure that we're getting all the benefits that we need from the lawsuits that are out there and to protect Virginians.”
I've done it as a legislator. I've done it as an assistant attorney general. We have a chance to redefine the office and be more active, and I'm excited to be a part of it, and I'm looking forward to earning everyone's vote.
