In Virginia, the mask is off.
Just weeks ago, Democrats were quick to reassure voters they opposed political violence. Jay Jones, who casually fantasized in texts about putting two bullets in a Republican’s head and watching his children die, was painted as “remorseful.” Voters were told this was a one-time lapse in judgment, an ugly moment he regretted.
But just hours after the polls closed, the party’s posture shifted from regret to defiance — and even mockery.
Louise Lucas, Virginia’s Senate president pro tempore and one of the most powerful Democrats in the state, posted “Virginia is for lovers, not snitches” on social media, alongside a grotesque AI-generated video of Jones kicking his Republican opponent Jason Miyares, who was portrayed as a dog. The implication was crystal clear: the real offense wasn’t what Jones said. It was that someone told.
That “someone” was Republican Del. Carrie Coyner, the most moderate member of either chamber, who confirmed the authenticity of Jones’ messages to National Review after receiving them directly. For that act of basic civic responsibility, she was branded a “betrayer” by Democratic House Speaker Don Scott — himself a convicted crack dealer who now lectures on morality — and subjected to a whisper campaign dripping with street-code menace.
The use of “snitch” language, echoed by other Democratic leaders like Sen. Lashrecse Aird, calls to mind the criminal-world adage “snitches get stitches,” not the decorum of a modern legislature. That such language is being used by sitting state senators and party leaders should be chilling. But in today’s Virginia Democratic Party, it’s embraced — not condemned.
Governor-elect Abigail Spanberger tried to deflect blame, suggesting she couldn’t have known about Jones’ violent rhetoric because Republicans “held the texts for years.” The logic is tortured. Are we to believe Jones openly expressed these sentiments to Republicans but kept them secret from his own ideological allies? Or is it more plausible that a culture of silence — omertà — protected Jones from scrutiny until a Republican finally broke the code?
After National Review broke the story on October 4, Democrats never truly disavowed Jones. They said they opposed his words, while refusing to pull endorsements or call for accountability. And despite expressing a desire to commit political murder, Jones won his election with 53% of the vote — barely trailing the Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor. The voters didn’t flinch.
But the Jones affair wasn’t the only moment Democrats revealed their true posture. On October 30, a campaign bus belonging to Republican gubernatorial candidate Winsome Sears caught fire. Initially, Lucas offered a sterile acknowledgment that no one was hurt. Then, days later, she gleefully posted a doctored photo of herself posing by the burned bus — a mocking victory lap.
Lucas didn’t stop there. After the election, she reposted a comment celebrating how she “planted that foot in [Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s] ass and ended his career,” followed by another lauding her as “ruthless” — a label she accepted proudly. And now, emboldened by victory, she’s promising a brutal partisan redistricting effort, despite the fact that Republicans earned nearly half the statewide vote.
But the most sobering development is this: the Democrats have the numbers now. Scott’s House majority ballooned from 51 seats to 64. It’s a short leap to a veto-proof supermajority. Just ten years ago, it was the Republicans who held that dominance. Today, Democrats like Elizabeth Guzman — who believes parents should be prosecuted for not “affirming” their child’s gender identity — are on the rise. Her previously failed bill would have redefined child abuse to include ideological noncompliance. Now, she’s heading to Richmond with a mandate.