The seven-way fight for the Virginia Republican gubernatorial nomination has garnered the bulk of state political media attention this spring, but it’s hardly the only statewide contest.
Four candidates are competing against one another Saturday to earn the GOP nomination for state attorney general. Each is promoting a law-and-order and public safety message.
Republicans hoping to be nominated by their party are Leslie Haley, a Chesterfield County supervisor, Virginia Beach state Del. Jason Miyares, Virginia Beach attorney Chuck Smith, and Northern Virginia lawyer Jack White.
TURBULENT PROCESS SHAPES FINAL PUSH FOR VIRGINIA GOP GUBERNATORIAL NOMINATION
Their campaigns focus on incumbent Democratic Attorney General Mark Herring and the rest of his party as being soft on crime. Each points to the Virginia Democrats’ push for sentence reductions for violent felons, their support of eliminating law enforcement’s qualified immunity, and a state parole board scandal that is still under investigation.
The eventual GOP nominee must make up a fundraising deficit against either Herring, who has raised nearly $1.8 million, or his primary opponent Jay Jones, who has brought in almost $1.3 million, according to the Virginia Public Access Project.
Here are where the GOP attorney general candidates stand on the issues.
Leslie Haley
Haley, an elected member of the Chesterfield County supervisors, previously spent 14 years on the Virginia State Bar as senior assistant ethics counsel, in which she provided ethics advice and consultation to practicing lawyers.
She founded her own law firm in which she is currently a partner and provides ethical consultation, advice, and representation to lawyers.
“As attorney general, I’ll keep all Virginia families safe. I’ll always stand shoulder to shoulder with the brave men and women in law enforcement who put their lives on the line every single day. Defunding the police? I’ve stood strong with our law enforcement, and that will never happen on my watch,” Haley says in her campaign video before emphasizing her anti-abortion and pro-Second Amendment credentials.
Haley currently serves as the chairwoman of the Greater Richmond Partnership, a collaboration of public and private sectors that work to attract new economic development opportunities in central Virginia.
She currently has the smallest campaign war chest among all the candidates with just over $119,000.
Jason Miyares
Miyares leads the GOP pack in fundraising with just over $478,000. Miyares is a former criminal prosecutor whose family is from Cuba. First elected to the Virginia General Assembly in 2015, Miyares serves on the General Laws, Transportation, and Courts of Justice committees.
“I’ve been in the room with the victims of violent crime. And the one thing I can tell you is that they’re desperate to not be forgotten,” said in his campaign launch video back in December. “They are desperate to have their voices heard. And that’s why I want to be your attorney general. We need an attorney general who will work with our law enforcement officers.”
Chuck Smith
Smith, a former chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia Beach, is a former prosecutor, defense counsel, and administrative discharge officer for the U.S. Navy. He has raised almost $320,000, putting him right behind Miyares.
Smith is the only candidate to mention former President Donald Trump in his campaign video. “The next attorney general of Virginia will need to be a patriot, but none better than someone born on the 4th of July who will stand for America,” he says. “Stand for Virginia and by the grace of God stand for President Donald J. Trump, the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, and our men and women in blue.”
Smith previously had an assignment as a special assistant U.S. attorney at the U.S. Magistrate Office in Norfolk, and from 1970 to 1976, he served in the Marine Corps. as an infantryman.
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Jack White
White is a Northern Virginia lawyer who clerked for Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito. He is also an ordained minister and an Army veteran. A graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and later Pepperdine Law School, he sits on boards of several organizations, including the Virginia Chamber of Commerce, the National Military Family Association, and Mother Assisted Nutritive Aid. He has also led the Fairfax County Public Schools Education Foundation.
White has raised just over $150,000, putting him in third fundraising wise among the Republican candidates.
“Virginia is being ill-served by who we have is our lawyer. It’s clear he doesn’t think his job is to represent you. His client is a political agenda. Justice is blind, but Mark Herring isn’t,” White said in his campaign video. “He knows he is putting his politics ahead of supporting our police and supporting your right to self-defense. He’s not representing us when he doesn’t fight to get our schools open. He’s a politician doing political things.”
