Republican Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares stopped by a popular York County eatery Monday to press his case for reelection as the commonwealth’s top legal officer.
Del. Chad Green hosted a constituent meet-and-greet at Joe & Mimma’s with Miyares and several other Republican officeholders, who touted conservative successes under the administration of Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
In addition to the state’s top three spots, all 100 House of Delegates seats will be on the ballot in November. Earlier this year, statewide Democrats identified House District 69, which Green represents, and which includes parts of Newport News and York, James City and Gloucester counties, as one they’re seeking to flip.
Green is running against Democrat Mark Downey and Independent Valerie Beverley. He said he is confident that his record of bipartisan cooperation will work to his advantage. “People will look at my record, see what I’ve accomplished and return me to office,” he said.
Also in attendance was Del. A.C. Cordoza, whose House District 86 includes all of Poquoson along with parts of Hampton and York County. Political observers expect Cordoza’s race against Democrat Virgil Thornton to be competitive.
Other Republican officials who spoke at the gathering but are not running for reelection this year were York-Poquoson Sheriff Ron Montgomery, state Sen. J.D. “Danny” Diggs and U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman.
Diggs, who served as York-Poquoson Sheriff for more than 20 years, told attendees that he admired Miyares’ record of public safety, calling him “one of the best, if not the best attorney general in the nation.”
Wittman, who represents Virginia’s 1st District in the U.S. House of Representatives, framed the upcoming statewide election as a fork in the road, and that voting for Republicans meant that Virginians would enjoy more prosperity, safety and choice. At the national level, Wittman said that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act was an example of conservative principles and priorities putting more money back into the hands of working Virginians and making social welfare programs more sustainable. But as a former local and state legislator, Wittman said that he knew that decisions made in Richmond would have tremendous impact on Virginians, which is why November’s election was so critical.
“I had the honor to serve for years in local government and then in the General Assembly,” Wittman said. “That’s really where things happen. I appreciate what you all do. That’s the tough work of what keeps our communities and the commonwealth in the best place possible.”
Green told those in attendance that he and fellow Republican legislators were fighting for better public safety and to put more money into the hands of constituents. Miyares, whom Green called “the people’s protector,” was the obvious choice to defend those priorities.
Miyares pointed to his record as attorney general, which he said clearly demonstrated that he deserved four more years in the office. He called his election, along with that of Youngkin and Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, “the Virginia renaissance — the most remarkable turnaround I think you’ve ever seen in Virginia history.”
Among the accomplishments Miyares said he was most proud of was more than $1 billion in settlement money his office helped procure from opioid manufacturers that profited off addiction in Virginia and sparked a national crisis.
He also said that Ceasefire Virginia, a program launched by his office to target violent repeat offenders, has resulted in markedly safer streets. Roughly 5% of felons are committing more than 50% of violent felonies in Virginia’s cities, according to Miyares, and his office sought to charge the small subset of individuals who were committing a disproportionate number of crimes.
“In our 13 targeted Ceasefire cities, our murder rate dropped 66%,” Miyares said.
He implored those in attendance to become engaged to help elect Republicans at the ballot box in November. “I’m asking you all to get off the sidelines, get engaged and be part of this movement,” he said. “We are excited about the future of Virginia.”
Among the locals who attended the meet-and-greet was Peter Guhl, a neuro-optometrist in Yorktown. Guhl said that key political issues that he found particularly important were economic opportunity, health care and reducing the burden of regulation.
“I’m a small-business owner, and the time and effort it takes to keep up with all the regulations is overwhelming,” he said.
Ben Swenson, [email protected]
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