FIRST ON FOX: A top fundraising group in the Virginia election doubled its investment in the state’s attorney general race following the revelation of Democrat Jay Jones’ violent text messages, a sign that the controversy could be having concrete effects on his candidacy.
The Republican Attorneys General Association invested $2.5 million in Republican incumbent Jason Miyares on Friday, after dropping $2 million in the race earlier this week, Fox News Digital has learned. Those figures bring the group’s total contributions to Miyares to a historic $8.5 million.
Spokesman Adam Piper said the texting incident has driven new interest from donors, which has allowed the group to up its investment in the race.
Jay Jones, who is running to become Virginia's attorney general in 2025, has come under fire for a series of text messages calling for the death of political opponents and remarks about police officers. (Maxine Wallace/The Washington Post/Getty Images)
Piper, the group's executive director, said the Republican Attorneys General Association has been "all in" on Miyares from the outset but that the text messages "completely changed the dynamics" of the race.
"Jason Miyares is surging in the polls and RAGA has been overwhelmed with millions in new donations, allowing us to double our investment in Virginia over the last week," Piper told Fox News Digital.
The group has outspent all other political committees up and down the gubernatorial race ticket, according to the most updated data from the Virginia Public Access Project. It also broke its prior record of $7 million, which it spent on their attorney general candidate in 2017.
Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares speaks during a campaign event. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post via Getty Images)
The incidence of down-ticket donations overshadowing those for the governor’s race comes after Jones, a lawyer and former state delegate, fantasized in newly surfaced texts from 2022 about the violent death of a Republican lawmaker.
The GOP attorneys general group this week released internal polling, conducted Oct. 6-7 by Cygnal, that found a sharp drop of 21 points in Jones' favorability compared to one month ago. The poll found Miyares leading Jones by two points with one month until Election Day.
Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., speaks during an interview at her congressional offices in Washington, Feb. 8, 2023. Spanberger is running for Virginia governor. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard, File)
At the top of the ticket, recent polls have shown Democratic gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger leading Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears by roughly ten points while the attorney general race is slightly tighter.
With early voting well underway, it is unclear how much, if it all, the texts from Jones will hurt him and other Democratic candidates' chances of winning in a blue-leaning state. Jones has apologized for the texts but continues to face fierce backlash over them.
In addition to the new fundraising headwinds, Jones has been hit with widespread calls by Republicans to drop out of the race amid a heightened national concern over political violence. Democrats, including Spanberger, have disavowed the texts but stopped short of asking Jones to bow out.