Can Jay Jones drop out of Virginia attorney general race after text messages?

When asked whether Virginia attorney general candidate Jay Jones should drop out of the race following exposed violent text messages, many Democrats remained silent or defended Jones’ candidacy while condemning the messages.

The situation raises the question of whether Democrats might be concerned about replacing Jones on the Democratic ticket with incumbent Republican Jason Miyares — and whether that is even legally possible.

Fox News Digital reached out to the Commonwealth of Virginia to find out exactly what might happen and whether Jones was blocked from the ballot as his scandal unfolded.

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Jay Jones, a candidate for Virginia attorney general in 2025, has come under fire for a series of text messages calling for the deaths of political opponents and remarks about police officers. (Maxine Wallace/The Washington Post/Getty Images)

Unlike other states like Pennsylvania, where the Secretary of the Commonwealth serves as the elections official, Virginia has its own elections department that oversees these operations.

A Department of Elections official told Fox News Digital on Wednesday that the Virginia Code has three sections that govern such situations.

Under Code 24.2-612.2, candidates are still allowed to withdraw from their respective races, but they have until 60 days before the election to have their name removed from the ballot.

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This means that, in Jones’ case, he has the option to step aside amid the storm, but Democrats cannot nominate a new candidate to officially appear on the ballot.

Additionally, Virginia’s election season begins much earlier than in some other states, with voters having already cast their ballots by the end of September. All votes for Jones on these ballots go to him even if he drops out, perhaps creating an unintended windfall for Miyares.

Early voting results in Virginia have already surpassed 2021 results on Wednesday, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.

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Although the partisan breakdown is not given, Democrats are historically in favor of mail-in and early voting compared to Republicans.

As of Wednesday, more than 420,000 ballots have been cast in person or by mail this cycle, compared to just 225,000 in the 2021 election.

But if Jones were to drop out, the law provides guidance to political parties under Virginia Code 24.2-612.1.

If a candidate withdraws after ballots have been printed, each county and independent city election office is required to post notices at polling places informing voters that the candidate listed on the ballot has withdrawn.

Printed notices would be distributed at polling places and attached to absentee ballots to alert voters of the withdrawn candidate.

If Jones officially withdrew, his votes would still be counted but would not be counted by election officials because he would be a withdrawn candidate.

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Therefore, the Democratic Party could apparently also post signs at the polls highlighting any consensus candidate it would like to replace Jones with.

Drop-ins are allowed in the attorney general race, so if Jones were to withdraw, Democrats could regroup behind a new candidate and present a unified front in hopes of garnering enough votes late in the season and on Election Day to overtake Miyares and Jones’ tallies.

There have been a handful of write-in candidates who have won in Virginia in the 20th and 21st centuries. However, most occurred in uncompetitive or low-level races.

Only two candidates whose names were not on the original ballot in competitive races have won elections in contemporary times.

The more important of the two is Virginia Del. Nick Freitas, R-Culpeper, a libertarian-leaning conservative who won his 2019 effort after failing to file his paperwork in time to get on the official ballot. He won his race with about 58% of the vote.

Freitas previously unsuccessfully challenged now-Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger for his congressional seat — now held by Rep. Yevgeny “Eugene” Vindman, D-Va.

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He also narrowly lost to former Prince William County, Virginia, Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart in the 45-43 GOP Senate primary in 2018. Stewart ultimately lost to Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va. by 57-41 in the general election.

The other written case involved Brunswick County School Board member Timothy Puryear in 2023.