Former Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) is directing her attention to federal worker back pay in an apparent attempt to pull focus away from Jay Jones’s violent text messages. At the same time, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears‘s (R-VA) campaign continues to blast the Democratic ticket on Jones’s violent rhetoric.

Republicans, including President Donald Trump, have called on Democrats to force their candidate for attorney general, Jay Jones, to drop out of the election, after text messages surfaced where he said state House Speaker Todd Gilbert should get “two bullets to the head.” So far, he has not dropped out, and Democrats have been mum about holding him accountable for his violent rhetoric, frustrating conservatives further.

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Spanberger has condemned her ticket mate’s violent rhetoric, but didn’t ask him to leave the ticket. Instead, she’s redirected her messaging to focus on the government shutdown, seizing on the opportunity to slam Republicans on a Trump administration memo threatening to withhold back pay from furloughed federal employees.

JAY JONES’S VIOLENT TEXT MESSAGES IN VIRGINIA BLEED INTO THE NATIONAL DEBATE

“President Trump is punishing Virginians for his own refusal to work in good faith to end this shutdown. Withholding backpay would do nothing to strengthen our country — and would be a further attack on Virginians’ livelihoods,” Spanberger said in a statement. “My opponent, Winsome Earle-Sears, has backed President Trump’s job-killing and price-hiking agenda at every turn.”

Virginia ranks third, behind Washington, D.C., and Maryland, among states or Districts with the highest percentage of their workforce being employed by the federal government.

Earle-Sears has joined national GOP leaders in blaming the government shutdown on congressional Democrats, releasing a video advertisement on her social media pages in late September. She said, “Abigail Spanberger is right there with them,” in a post on X.

“We need a clean, continuing resolution. The Democrats are holding it up,” Earle-Sears said in the advertisement.

The Earle-Sears campaign did not respond to the Washington Examiner‘s requests for comment on the issue of federal worker back pay.

Meanwhile, Earle-Sears’ campaign hasn’t taken its foot off the gas on slamming Jones’s violent texts. Her campaign released a new ad titled “Two Bullets” that says plainly, “Jay Jones says he wants to put two bullets in a political opponent.”

The ad also references back to a June video where Spanberger called on Virginians to “let your rage fuel you,” in a further attempt to tie the Democratic candidate to violent political rhetoric. Spanberger was attempting to motivate voters to get involved in politics, encouraging them to send postcards and knock on doors.

Earle-Sears has been consistently polling behind Spanberger by double digits, leading some Republicans to withhold endorsements or donations. Trump hasn’t given her a full-fledged endorsement yet, and some of Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s biggest donors haven’t donated similarly to Earle-Sears. However, after the news of Jones’s violent tests, the Republican Governors Association announced a $1.5 million additional donation to Earle Sears’s campaign this week, bringing their total buy-in on the Republicans’ campaign to $5 million, according to Politico.

TRUMP GIVES EARLE-SEARS THE COLD SHOULDER AS HE WADES INTO VIRGINIA RACES

Earle-Sears and Spanberger are set to face off in their first debate on Thursday at Norfolk State University. Election Day is on November 4.

Spanberger did not respond to the Washington Examiner‘s requests for comment.