Even without having won, Abigail Spanberger faces her first test as governor. Spanberger must decide who she wants to be Virginia's attorney general. As of now, by not asking him to leave the race, she is picking Jay Jones by default. In her first gubernatorial test, Spanberger is failing.
Miserably.
It is hard to keep abreast of the scandals of Jay Jones, the Democrats' nominee to be attorney general. His texting one is beyond horrendous, but his reckless driving charge continues to shed layers like an onion, too.
If you have somehow missed it, in 2022, Jay Jones repeatedly sent vile texts to Carrie Coyner, a Republican member of Virginia's House of Delegates. Jones, who had recently resigned from the House of Delegates, appears to have inadvertently sent Coyner the first text where he dismissed the centrism of a deceased moderate Democrat, Joe Johnson, Jr. However, despite being aware of his mis-sent text, Jones went on, calling State House Speaker Todd Gilbert "that POS." He then said of former colleagues, "If those guys die before me, I will go to their funerals to piss on their graves."
Jones went on to text that he would shoot Gilbert twice in the head "every time." When Coyner asked Jones to "please stop," Jones responded, "Lol. Ok, ok." But Jones did not stop. He also called Coyner and said Gilbert's children needed to die in their mother's arms so that Gilbert would support gun control legislation. Continuing, he said of the Gilbert family, "I mean do I think Todd and Jennifer are evil? And that they're breeding little fascists? Yes."
Coyner also alleges that, in a separate conversation, Jones had said regarding police, "Well, maybe if a few of them died, that they would move on, not shooting people, not killing people."
In 2022, Jones was also convicted of reckless driving after being arrested for going 116 mph in a 70-mph speed zone. Jones was fined $1,500 and sentenced to 1,000 hours of community service (25 weeks, working 40 hours a week). Jones claimed he fulfilled his 1,000 hours in just one year, doing 500 hours with the NAACP Virginia State Conference and the other 500 hours with his own political action committee, Meet Our Moment, with one of his own employees providing the verification that he did these 500 hours. A special prosecutor has recently been named to investigate whether Jones fulfilled his court-ordered service.
So many questions spiral out from these incidents.
Jones knew he texted the wrong person but continued to rant on and on—in writing and over the phone—even after being asked to stop. Why? How? This is no momentary lapse of judgment. If Jones knowingly said these things to the wrong person, what things has Jones said to confidants that have not become public? That, perhaps, will come to light later?
On the reckless driving conviction: How did Jones not lose his driver's license, or at least have it suspended temporarily? Why did no one question how someone can do 1,000 hours of community service in just a year? And if Jones did fudge his community service, doesn't this show an utter disregard for the law he is seeking to uphold as attorney general?
Where there is no question is whether this is the conduct of someone who should be attorney general. Clearly, it is not. This is the conduct of someone who should be investigated by the attorney general.
In light of all these revelations, the questions must now go to Abigail Spanberger. In Virginia, the governor does not pick the attorney general—after the governor, arguably the most important government official in the state—the voters do.
Governors, therefore, only get to pick their attorney general indirectly: by whom they endorse. Spanberger has not rescinded hers of Jay Jones, nor has she asked Jones to leave the race.
Spanberger is saying that, if elected herself, she wants Jay Jones to be the attorney general for her administration. That Jones is somehow qualified for the position. That Jones is more qualified than his Republican opponent, current Attorney General Jason Miyares. Spanberger's silence equates to her saying I am comfortable if Jones wins.
Simply, Spanberger is picking party over Virginia and Virginians. And she is doing so because she is afraid that doing the right thing and asking Jones to withdraw is the wrong thing for her chances of getting elected.
Being governor is about making choices. Tough choices. It is about showing leadership. About leading when times are tough.
Yet, Spanberger is not choosing. She is not leading. When it comes to Jones staying in the race, Spanberger is not doing anything.
We already know that Jones is not qualified for the office he is seeking. With each day of silence that goes by, Abigail Spanberger is proving that she is not, either.
J.T. Young is the author of the recent book, "Unprecedented Assault: How Big Government Unleashed America's Socialist Left" from RealClear Publishing, and has over three decades of experience working in Congress, the Department of the Treasury, the Office of Management and Budget, and representing a Fortune 20 company.