At the Embassy Suites in Virgina Beach, the crowd for incumbent Attorney General Jason Miyares was hopeful early on election night.
The crowd held out hope as the governor and lieutenant governor’s races were quickly called in favor of Democratic candidates Abigail Spanberger and Ghazala Hashmi.
But the mood dulled as screens around the party showed Fox News calling the attorney general’s race for Miyares’ opponent, Jay Jones.
Former governor George Allen came to the stage just before 10 p.m. to acknowledge the Democrats’ sweep of statewide offices and introduce Miyares.
“It’s exceedingly difficult for those lower on the ticket to overcome … the political gravity at the top of the ticket,” Allen said.
The former governor praised the work Miyares did as attorney general and said Miyares was “by far leading the ballot.”
The attorney general’s race, where the candidates were separated by about 4% around 10:30 p.m., was considerably closer than the other statewide races, where Democrats were leading by double-digits.
Miyares thanked his supporters and voters for giving him four years in the job. He said he wished his opponent – who was caught up in a scandal over the last few weeks about text messages alluding to violence against a Republican lawmaker – the best in succeeding him.
“As the hallmark of our democracy, I wish Jay Jones the best in this job. I know given the circumstances of the last six weeks, many of my supporters will find that difficult, but the reason I wish Jay the best is because we, the people of Virginia, need it," Miyares said.
He struck a conciliatory tone, noting that differences of political opinion are not the end-all and said Democrats assuming power would do well to remember that the pendulum will swing back.
"It always does," Miyares said to cheers.
