Democratic Virginia Attorney General Cancels Fundraiser After Violent Text Scandal

Democratic candidate for Virginia attorney general Jay Jones canceled a planned fundraiser Thursday night following backlash he faced over text messages in which he fantasized about putting “two bullets” into the head of a fellow Republican.

The fundraiser was scheduled to take place at author David Baldacci’s home, but expected donors reportedly received a note saying their contributions would be refunded since the event would be canceled, a person familiar with the matter told Axios.

The canceled fundraiser suggests Jones’ campaign may still be in crisis repair mode after news of his violent rhetoric, which even his fellow Virginia Democrats alongside Jones have condemned. However, those same Virginia Democrats have not called on Jones to leave the race.

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Virginia Attorney General candidate Jerrauld “Jay” Jones speaks at an event in Norfolk, Virginia. (Trevor Metcalfe/The Virginian-Pilot/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

In a new campaign ad titled “Two Bullets” on Tuesday, Republican gubernatorial candidate Winsome Earle-Sears blasted her Democratic opponent, former Virginia congresswoman from the state’s Seventh Congressional District, Abigail Spanberger, for not explicitly calling on Jones to drop out of the race.

“Jay Jones says he wants to take two shots at a political opponent,” the ad begins, before turning to Spanberger saying, “Let your rage fuel you.” The narrator then returns and begins quoting headlines that “Jones says he hopes an opponent’s children die”, before again emphasizing Spanberger’s “rage” comments.

“Abigail Spanberger continues to support Jones,” the ad’s narrator continues. “She’s with him, not with us.”

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Jones’ opponent, Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, also issued his own massive $1.5 million ad buy in response to Jones’ text messages.

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares speaks during a campaign event for Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate Winsome Earle-Sears at the Vienna Volunteer Fire Department, July 1, 2025, in Vienna, Virginia. (Kayla Bartkowski/Getty Images)

The text messages were from Jones in 2022, as he attempted to describe a hypothetical situation about who he would kill if Jones had a gun with only two bullets and there were three people standing in front of him.

“Three people, two bullets,” the text messages read. “Gilbert, Hitler and Pol Pot. Gilbert gets shot twice in the head,” Jones wrote, referring to Todd Gilbert, then Speaker of the Virginia House. He added: “Spoiler: put Gilbert on the crew with the two worst people you know and he gets both bullets every time.”

The text messages from 2022 come during a time of heightened sensitivity to inflammatory and violent political rhetoric following the assassination of Charlie Kirk and two assassination attempts on President Donald Trump.

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Even Democrats have warned – in the wake of Kirk’s recent assassination – that “violent words precede violent actions” and that “we should have a culture of condemnation of any rhetoric that glorifies violence.”

Jones did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on this story. Representatives for Miyares declined to comment.

Charles Creitz of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.