The 2021 Virginia attorney general election was held on November 2, 2021, to elect the next
attorney general of Virginia
The attorney general of Virginia is an elected constitutional position that holds an executive office in the government of Virginia. Attorneys general are elected for a four-year term in the year following a presidential election. There are no ...
.
Democratic Attorney General
Mark Herring
Mark Rankin Herring (born September 25, 1961) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 47th Attorney General of Virginia from 2014 to 2022. A Democrat, he previously served in the Senate of Virginia since a 2006 special election, ...
attempted to win a third term. Herring initially planned to run for
governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
, but decided to run for re-election. Herring faced Republican nominee
Jason Miyares
Jason Stuart Miyares (born February 11, 1976) is an American attorney and politician serving as the 48th Attorney General of Virginia since January 15, 2022. A Republican, he was elected a member of the Virginia House of Delegates on November 3, ...
in the general election. Herring conceded defeat at 5:02 PM EST the following day, November 3. Miyares became the first
Cuban-American
Cuban Americans ( es, cubanoestadounidenses or ''cubanoamericanos'') are Americans who trace their cultural heritage to Cuba regardless of phenotype or ethnic origin. The word may refer to someone born in the United States of Cuban descent or ...
and
Hispanic
The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad.
The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties forme ...
to be elected to statewide office in Virginia. Miyares was later sworn in on January 15, 2022.
Democratic primary
Candidates
Nominee
*
Mark Herring
Mark Rankin Herring (born September 25, 1961) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 47th Attorney General of Virginia from 2014 to 2022. A Democrat, he previously served in the Senate of Virginia since a 2006 special election, ...
, incumbent attorney general
Eliminated in primary
*
Jay Jones, state delegate for
Virginia's 89th House of Delegates district
Virginia's 89th House of Delegates district elects one of 100 seats in the Virginia House of Delegates, the lower house of the state's bicameral legislature. District 89, consisting of parts of Norfolk, Virginia, is currently represented by Democ ...
Declined
*
Shannon Taylor,
Henrico County
Henrico County , officially the County of Henrico, is located in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 334,389 making it the fifth-most populous county in Virginia. Henrico County is incl ...
commonwealth's attorney
Endorsements
Debates
Mark Herring and Jay Jones agreed to one
debate
Debate is a process that involves formal discourse on a particular topic, often including a moderator and audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for often opposing viewpoints. Debates have historically occurred in public meetings, a ...
. The debate started off with Mark Herring started off talking about his record and saying what he has done about certain cases vs what Jones was doing at the time. Jay Jones started off talking about his
endorsement from
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
at the time,
Ralph Northam
Ralph (pronounced ; or ,) is a male given name of English, Scottish and Irish origin, derived from the Old English ''Rædwulf'' and Radulf, cognate with the Old Norse ''Raðulfr'' (''rað'' "counsel" and ''ulfr'' "wolf").
The most common forms ...
, and claiming Herring's past didn't matter for what was happening in the present.
Issues
Herring and Jones agreed on almost every issue asked to them. When the rebuttals came though, Herring would often claim that Jones didn’t support something when he was on the legislature and Jones would point to an example where they agreed on it in the past, such as a big. When Jones rebutted Herring, Jones claimed that Herring didn’t begin on the issue until it was in the political atmosphere.
Here are a couple examples below.
Polling
Results
Republican convention
Candidates
Nominated at convention
*
Jason Miyares
Jason Stuart Miyares (born February 11, 1976) is an American attorney and politician serving as the 48th Attorney General of Virginia since January 15, 2022. A Republican, he was elected a member of the Virginia House of Delegates on November 3, ...
, state delegate for
Virginia's 82nd House of Delegates district
Virginia's 82nd House of Delegates district elects one of 100 seats in the Virginia House of Delegates, the lower house of the state's bicameral legislature. The district contains part of Virginia Beach. Since 2016, the seat has been held by Repu ...
Defeated at convention
*Leslie Haley,
Chesterfield County supervisor
* Chuck Smith, attorney, nominee for
Virginia's 3rd congressional district
Virginia's third congressional district is a United States congressional district in the Commonwealth of Virginia, serving the independent cities of Norfolk, Newport News, Hampton, Portsmouth, and part of the independent city of Chesapeake. ...
in
2010, and candidate for Attorney General in
2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...
* Jack White, preacher and attorney
Declined
*
Bill Stanley, state senator for
Virginia's 20th Senate district
Virginia's 20th Senate district is one of 40 districts in the Senate of Virginia. It has been represented by Republican Bill Stanley since 2012; prior to 2011 redistricting, Stanley represented the 19th district.
Geography
District 20 is based ...
Results
General election
Endorsements
General election Debates
Mark Herring and Jason Miyares agreed to one debate. It was a town hall like event where people could ask questions about important issues.
Polling
;Graphical summary
Results
See also
*
2021 Virginia elections
*
2021 Virginia gubernatorial election
The 2021 Virginia gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 2021, to elect the next governor of Virginia. The election was concurrent with other elections for Virginia state offices. Incumbent Democratic Governor Ralph Northam was inelig ...
*
2021 Virginia lieutenant gubernatorial election
The 2021 Virginia lieutenant gubernatorial election was held on November 2, 2021, to elect the next lieutenant governor of Virginia. Incumbent Democratic Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax was eligible to run for a second term, but instead unsuc ...
*
2021 Virginia House of Delegates election
The 2021 Virginia House of Delegates election for the 162nd Virginia General Assembly were held on November 2, 2021 to coincide with biennial elections in the U.S. state of Virginia. All 100 Delegates are elected to two-year terms in single-mem ...
Notes
;Partisan clients
References
External links
;Official campaign websites
Mark Herring (D) for Attorney GeneralJason Miyares (R) for Attorney General
{{2021 United States elections
2021 Virginia elections
2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...
Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...