Virginia plays host Thursday night to a pivotal debate in the state’s attorney general race between incumbent Republican Jason Miyares and Democratic candidate Jay Jones, whose leaked texts about shooting a Republican lawmaker have jeopardized his standing in the race.

Jones has apologized for the texts, sent in 2022, in which he said “three people, two bullets” and if given the choice between Hitler, Pol Pot and former Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert (R), Gilbert would get “two bullets.”

Republicans have demanded Jones drop out of the race while seeking to connect him to other Democrats, including the party’s gubernatorial nominee, former Rep. Abigail Spanberger. Democrats have stuck with Jones, though Spanberger and others have criticized the texts.

Thursday’s forum at the University of Richmond gives Miyares a chance to go after Jones on the issue face-to-face, while it also presents Jones with his biggest opportunity yet to explain himself to voters.

Besides the “two bullets” reference, Jones also said it would take Gilbert’s wife “holding their dying children in her arms” for Gilbert to move on gun control.

Both sets of remarks have been vilified by Republicans already at an uproar over violence on the left after the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.

Before apologizing, in a statement and in an interview with WRIC in Richmond, which is owned by The Hill’s parent company Nexstar Media Group, Jones issued a statement accusing Miyares of “dropping smears through Trump-controlled media organizations.” That statement received widespread criticism.

Virginia Republicans have........

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