Virginia Democratic Party primary voters generally get it wrong – Ralph Northam over Tom Perriello in 2017, Terry McAuliffe over the two Jennifers in 2021.
We got it right in 2025, pushing Ghazala Hashmi through the finish line in a tight lieutenant governor race, and Jay Jones to victory in another tight race for attorney general.
Jones, a former state delegate from Norfolk, defeated the establishment candidate, Shannon Taylor, the Commonwealth’s attorney in Henrico County, by just under 9,000 votes, and 1.88 percentage points.
Hashmi, a state senator from Richmond, defeated a pair of establishment candidates, Levar Stoney, the former Richmond mayor, and Aaron Rouse, a state senator from Norfolk, with 6,400 votes, and 1.33 percentage points, separating the three.
The two winners will run down-ticket alongside former congresswoman Abigail Spanberger, the nominee for governor, on the Democrats’ November statewide ticket.
Voter turnout was strong for a primary that didn’t feature a contested gubernatorial race, with more than 480,000 votes cast, just 14,000 short of the turnout for the 2021 primary that did have a contested race for the nomination for governor, between McAuliffe, Jennifer Carroll Foy, now a state senator, and Jennifer McClellan, now a congresswoman.
“Virginians have made it clear: they are energized, engaged, and ready to elect Democrats up and down the ballot this November. With Abigail Spanberger, Ghazala Hashmi and Jay Jones forming the statewide ticket, and a record-breaking slate of House of Delegates nominees, Democrats are united, focused and ready to win,” said State Sen. Lamont Bagby, the chair of the Democratic Party of Virginia.
Not having Stoney on the ticket, in particular, will boost the Democrats’ fortunes in November.
Anybody but a McAuliffe acolyte with baggage from two underwhelming terms as the mayor of the capital city, amirite?
Hashmi will face Republican John Reid, the GOP lieutenant governor nominee, who was the focus of a concerted effort of the sitting Republican governor, Glenn Youngkin, to step aside as the LG candidate for the MAGA side because Reid is gay.
That ought to work out well.
Jones, who lost in his bid for the AG nomination in 2021, in which he challenged the then-two-term attorney general, Mark Herring, will challenge the sitting AG, Jason Miyares, a Cuban-American MAGA who passed on the chance to run for his party’s gubernatorial nomination last year.
“The most powerful corporations and special interests believe that Virginia’s government should be beholden to them. They will spend more trying to beat us in November by funding Donald Trump’s pro-bono attorney, Jason Miyares. And we are ready for that fight because it’s not their government, it’s yours. As your next attorney general, I will return the power back to you. To the people of Virginia,” Jones said in a statement released late Tuesday night.
“Virginia needs leaders who will put Virginia first. Who will stand up to the powerful corporate special interests. Who will stand up for the rule of law. Who will keep us safe. And that’s exactly what I will do as your attorney general,” Jones said.
Spanberger, who is leading, big time, in the polls at the top of the ticket in her race with the sitting MAGA lieutenant governor, Winsome Earle-Sears, is fired up and ready to go.
“I’m looking forward to hitting the ground running this week and over the next five months with our entire Democratic ticket as we span Virginia — listening to the challenges facing our communities and winning Virginians’ trust that our administration will address them. And come January, we will work together to build a stronger Virginia for everyone who calls our Commonwealth home,” Spanberger said in a statement on the primary day results.
Thank god, we got it right, for once.
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Chris Graham
