Jay Jones and Shannon Taylor compete in Virginia's Attorney General Democratic primary
Jay Jones and Shannon Taylor are competing for the Democratic nomination for attorney general. The winner of June 17 primary election will face the Republican incumbent Jason Miyares.
In Virginia, attorneys general serve four-year terms, and there are no restrictions on how many terms they can serve.
___
Age: 36
Employment: Attorney, Hogan Lovells
Education: Bachelor of Arts from William and Mary; Juris Doctor from the University of Virginia
Previous elected office: Former State Delegate, HD-89 (Norfolk) 2018-2021.
Website: jayjones.com
What is an area where Virginia needs more robust consumer protection enforcement? How would you pursue such enforcement?
Virginians are getting squeezed at the grocery store, the gas pump, and everywhere in between—while corporations rake in record profits. As assistant attorney general in D.C., I served in the Office of Consumer Protection, taking on gun manufacturers, big banks, and housing giants to defend everyday people. As attorney general, I'll keep fighting corporate price gougers driving up costs for working families. That includes stopping monopolies like Kroger and Albertsons, whose proposed merger would raise grocery prices and hurt Virginia communities. I've fought corporate consolidation before—and I'll do it again. I'll expand the Consumer Protection Section to go after companies that break the law through collusion, predatory lending, or digital exploitation. Jason Miyares works for his corporate donors. I'll work for the people of Virginia.
In what, if any, ways do you believe the attorney general's prosecutorial authority should be expanded? Is there ever an instance when the AG's office should be able to seize control of certain criminal cases from local prosecutors?
The job of the attorney general is to protect the people of Virginia and ensure justice is served. We can best keep Virginians safe when all elements of our criminal justice system – from law enforcement to prosecutors are working collaboratively to go after violent criminals and drug dealers to protect our communities. As attorney general, I will always work to make sure the law is enforced fairly and criminals are held accountable – and that this is done in a way that focuses on facts, not politics.
___
Age: 57
Employment: Henrico Commonwealth's Attorney
Education: University of Richmond Law School; Master's degree in international relations, University of Virginia.
Previous elected office: Henrico Commonwealth's Attorney (2011 – Present)
Website: shannontaylorva.com
What is an area where Virginia needs more robust consumer protection enforcement? How would you pursue such enforcement?
As attorney general, I will do everything I can to protect Virginians. I have over two decades of experience as a prosecutor. I am intimately familiar with the scams and the ways they destroy innocent people. I am ready and able with in-depth expertise and experience to stop this crime. I will prosecute perpetrators to the fullest extent of the law so that they will never target Virginians again. If need be, I will go to the General Assembly to strengthen the laws. Virginia needs an attorney general with prosecutorial experience, a proven record of winning tough fights, and the track record to stand up to Trump and Elon Musk to protect our rights. As your attorney general, I will be a steadfast last line of defense for protecting Virginia's families, communities, and pocketbooks.
In what, if any, ways do you believe the attorney general's prosecutorial authority should be expanded? Is there ever an instance when the AG's office should be able to seize control of certain criminal cases from local prosecutors?
I believe our prosecutorial authority should always include proposing and advocating for legislation before the General Assembly that we believe will help keep Virginians safe or that address a new form of crime. No one could have imagined years ago the potency and danger of crime over the internet. Now with the rise of AI, the dangers and magnitude of increase. No one could have imagined the proliferation of guns and the number of mass shootings. We need to make sure our laws stay up to date to protect Virginians. I will be vigilant in protecting Virginia families. I will stand up for the U.S. Constitution and for the rule of law and will not allow Trump and Musk to put Virginia families in harm's way.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Hamilton Spectator
37 minutes ago
- Hamilton Spectator
Appeals court won't reconsider ruling that Trump must pay E. Jean Carroll $5M in sex abuse case
NEW YORK (AP) — A federal appeals court won't reconsider its ruling upholding a $5 million civil judgment against President Donald Trump in a civil lawsuit alleging he sexually abused a writer in a Manhattan department store in the mid-1990s. In an 8-2 vote Friday, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Trump's petition for the full appellate court to rehear arguments in his challenge to the jury's finding that he sexually abused advice columnist E. Jean Carroll and defamed her with comments he made in October 2022. Carroll testified at a 2023 trial that Trump turned a friendly encounter in spring 1996 into a violent attack after they playfully entered the store's dressing room. A three-judge panel of the appeals court upheld the verdict in December, rejecting Trump's claims that trial Judge Lewis A. Kaplan's decisions spoiled the trial, including allowing two other Trump sexual abuse accusers to testify. The women said Trump committed similar acts against them in the 1970s and in 2005. Trump denied all three women's allegations. In an opinion Friday, four judges voting to reject rehearing wrote: 'Simply re-litigating a case is not an appropriate use' of the process. 'In those rare instances in which a case warrants our collective consideration, it is almost always because it involves a question of exceptional importance,' or a conflict between precedent and the appellate panel's opinion, Judges Myrna Pérez, Eunice C. Lee, Beth Robinson and Sarah A.L. Merriam wrote. All four were appointed by President Joe Biden, Trump's one-time Democratic rival. The two dissenting judges, Trump appointees, Steven J. Menashi and Michael H. Park, wrote that the trial 'consisted of a series of indefensible evidentiary rulings.' 'The result was a jury verdict based on impermissible character evidence and few reliable facts,' they wrote. 'No one can have any confidence that the jury would have returned the same verdict if the normal rules of evidence had been applied.' Carroll's lawyer, Roberta Kaplan, said in a statement: 'E. Jean Carroll is very pleased with today's decision.' 'Although President Trump continues to try every possible maneuver to challenge the findings of two separate juries, those efforts have failed. He remains liable for sexual assault and defamation,' said Kaplan, who is not related to the judge. Trump skipped the trial after repeatedly denying the attack ever happened. He briefly testified at a follow-up defamation trial last year that resulted in an $83.3 million award. The second trial resulted from comments then-President Trump made in 2019 after Carroll first made the accusations publicly in a memoir. Kaplan presided over both trials and instructed the second jury to accept the first jury's finding that Trump had sexually abused Carroll. Arguments in that appeal are set for June 24. The Associated Press does not identify people who say they have been sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly, as Carroll has done. ___ Error! Sorry, there was an error processing your request. There was a problem with the recaptcha. Please try again. You may unsubscribe at any time. By signing up, you agree to our terms of use and privacy policy . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google privacy policy and terms of service apply. Want more of the latest from us? Sign up for more at our newsletter page .
39 minutes ago
Man convicted of killing 2 people outside bar to be executed in July
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- A man convicted of fatally shooting a man and woman outside a Jacksonville bar as part of an attempted revenge killing has been scheduled for execution in Florida under a death warrant signed Friday by Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis, the eighth this year. Michael Bernard Bell, 54, is set to die by lethal injection July 15 at Florida State Prison near the city of Starke. Bell was convicted in 1995 and sentenced to death for the murders of Jimmy West and Tamecka Smith. In December 1993, Bell spotted what he thought was the car of the man who fatally shot his brother earlier that year, according to court records. Bell was apparently unaware that the man had sold the car to West. Bell called on two friends and armed himself with an AK-47 rifle, authorities said. They found the car parked outside a liquor lounge and waited. When West, Smith and another woman eventually exited the club, Bell approached the car and opened fire, officials said. West died at the scene, and Smith died on the way to the hospital. The other woman escaped injury. Witnesses said Bell also fired at a crowd of onlookers before fleeing the area. He was eventually arrested the next year. Bell was later convicted of three additional murders. He fatally shot a woman and her toddler son in 1989, and he killed his mother's boyfriend about four months before the attack on West and Smith, officials said. Six other executions have taken place in Florida this year, with a seventh scheduled for June 24, all by lethal injection.
Yahoo
44 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Reactions to Padilla incident fall mostly along party lines
A day after federal agents forcibly restrained and handcuffed U.S. Sen Alex Padilla at a Los Angeles news conference, leaders of the country's two political parties responded in what has become a predictable fashion — with diametrically opposed takes on the incident. Padilla's fellow Democrats called for an investigation and perhaps even the resignation of the senator's nemesis, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, for what they described as the unprecedented manhandling of a U.S. senator who was merely attempting to ask a question of a fellow public official. Noem and fellow Republicans continued to depict Padilla as a grandstander, whose unexpected appearance at Noem's news conference seemed to her security detail to represent a threat, as she tried to speak to reporters at the Federal Building in Westwood. Republicans continued Friday to chastise Padilla, using words like 'launch,' 'lunge' and 'bum rush' to describe Padilla's behavior as he began to try to pose a question to Noem at Thursday's news conference. The Trump administration official was just a few minutes into her meeting with reporters when Padilla moved assertively from the side of the room, pushing past a Times photographer as he moved to more directly address Noem. He did not lunge at Noem and was still paces away from her when her security detail grabbed the senator. Read more: Arellano: Sen. Alex Padilla's crime? Being Mexican in MAGA America Padilla and his staff described how the veteran lawmaker went through security and was escorted by an FBI employee to the room where the press conference was held, saying it was absurd to suggest he presented a threat. Padilla spoke out after the secretary asserted that her homeland security agents had come to L.A. to "liberate the city from the socialists and the burdensome leadership that the governor and the mayor have placed on this country.' The former South Dakota governor would have some reason to recognize Padilla, since he questioned her during her Senate confirmation hearing. A spokesperson at the Homeland Security Department did not respond to a question of whether Noem recognized Padilla when he arrived at her press conference. As has become the norm in the nation's political discourse, Republicans and Democrats spoke about the confrontation Friday as if they had observed two entirely separate incidents. Sen. Ben Ray Lujan (D-N.M.) said Noem 'should step down,' adding: 'This is ridiculous. And she continues to lie about this incident. This is wrong.' Lujan urged his Republican colleagues to support Democrats in asking for 'a full investigation.' 'This is bad. This is precedent-setting,' Lujan told MSNBC. 'And I certainly hope that the leadership of the Senate, my Republican leaders, my friends, that they just look within. Pray on it. That's what I told a couple of them last night. Pray on this and do the right thing.' Members of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus went to Speaker Mike Johnson's office to protest Padilla's treatment. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) spoke out on X and on the floor of the Senate. He said the episode fit into 'a pattern of behavior by the Trump administration. There is simply no justification for this abuse of authority …. There can be no justification of seeing a senator forced to their knees.' Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-Texas) went on X to repeat the call for an investigation and to say that 'Republican leadership is complicit in enabling the growing authoritarianism in this country.' Most Republicans remained silent, or accused Padilla of being a provocateur. 'I think the senator's actions, my view is, it was wildly inappropriate,' said Johnson, the House speaker. 'You don't charge a sitting Cabinet secretary.' Johnson added that it was Padilla, who should face some sanction. 'At a minimum … [it] rises to the level of a censure. … I think there needs to be a message sent by the body as a whole that that is not what we are going to do, that's not how we're going to act.' Rep. Tom McClintock, (R-Elk Grove) zinged Padilla on X, with some 'helpful tips.' '1. Don't disrupt other people's press conferences. Hold your own instead. 2. Don't bum-rush a podium with no visible identification. ... 3. Don't resist or assault the Secret Service. It won't end well.' Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-Big Bear Lake) also sought to reinforce the notion that agents protecting Noem sensed a real threat, having no way of knowing that Padilla was who he said he was. The congressman said on Fox Business that Padilla had obtained "the outcome that they wanted. Now they have a talking point.' Read more: L.A. braces for multiple 'No Kings' demonstrations across the city Saturday None of the officials in the room, several of whom know Padilla, intervened to prevent the action by the agents, who eventually pushed the senator, face down, onto the ground, before handcuffing him. Noem did not back off her earlier statement that Padilla had 'burst' into the room. "Senator Padilla chose disrespectful political theatre and interrupted a live press conference without identifying himself or having his Senate security pin on as he lunged toward Secretary Noem,' Tricia McLaughlin, an assistant Homeland Security secretary, said in a statement Friday. McLaughlin also said that Padilla 'was told repeatedly to back away and did not comply with officers' repeated commands,' though video made public by Friday did not show such warnings, in advance of Padilla's first statement. The senator's staff members said he privately had received messages of concern from several Republican colleagues, including Sen. Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.) Speaking publicly only one Republican lawmaker sounded a note of distress about the episode. 'I've seen that one clip. It's horrible,' said Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). 'It is shocking at every level. It's not the America I know.' Padilla told Tommy Vietor of the "Pod Save America" podcast that Trump's aggressive immigration crackdown is an attempt to distract from many other failures — continued instability with the economy, a lack of peace in Ukraine and Gaza and a federal budget plan that is proving unpopular with many Americans. 'He always finds a distraction," Padilla said, "and, when all else fails, he goes back to demonizing and scapegoating immigrants. … He creates a crisis to get us all talking about something else." Padilla said repeatedly that Americans should be concerned about how everyday citizens will be treated, if forces working for the Trump administration are allowed to "tackle" a U.S. senator asking questions in a public building. On Friday afternoon, he sent a mass email urging his constituents to sign up for the protests planned for Saturday, to counter the military parade Trump is holding in Washington. "PLEASE show up and speak out against what is happening," Padilla wrote. "We cannot allow the Trump administration to intimidate us into silence." Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
