Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares, engaged in a competitive battle for reelection, made an appeal to split-ticket voters on Tuesday as he seeks to garner last-minute support from moderate voters in the state.
Miyares posted a video of him meeting Dave, introduced as a voter in Stafford, who said he cast ballots both for the Republican attorney general and Abigail Spanberger, a former representative running on the Democratic ticket for governor against Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears (R-VA).
“Dave’s splitting his ticket — you can too,” Miyares said, with just hours remaining for residents to cast votes.
“I voted for Spanberger for governor,” Dave told Miyares. “I voted for you for attorney general. This is not a time, nor have many times in my life been, where I have voted straight down a ticket. So here I am. I think you’ll continue to be a good representative for us in the state, and we appreciate you.”
The incumbent attorney general has made it a point to reach out to crossover voters amid polling showing the race between him and Jay Jones remains close, even after the Democratic nominee’s campaign was engulfed in controversy over texts he sent suggesting a leading state Republican should receive “two bullets to the head.” The texts, which Jones has apologized for, also called then-Virginia House speaker Todd Gilbert and his wife “evil,” said they were “breeding little fascists,” and wished death on their children.
In October, Miyares released an ad depicting Spanberger criticizing Jones for the messages. The ad, set to air on TV in all of Virginia’s media markets, was designed to appeal to voters amenable to Spanberger but skeptical of backing Jones as attorney general.
Miyares’s ad showed Spanberger saying of Jones during a gubernatorial debate: “I’m saying as of now, it’s up to every voter to make their own individual decision.”
The ad then transitioned to a voiceover that says, “Make your own decision. Say no to Jay Jones.”
Polling shows Spanberger remains slightly more popular than Earle-Sears, her Republican rival, and Miyares holds an edge over Jones, meaning voters could usher in a Democrat into the governor’s office and keep the Republican in the attorney general’s office.
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In that event, Miyares recently told WTOP that he “would seek common ground” with state leaders.
“Anybody who’s followed my career dating back to the General Assembly, I never got up and gave these crazy partisan speeches attacking people,” Miyares said. “I’m a firm believer — No. 1, stability is not weakness. That is one of my guideposts in my life. No. 2, your safety is my mission, Virginia, so I would seek common ground.”