Democrat Jay Jones has won the election for Virginia attorney general, NBC News projects, overcoming a text message scandal that threatened to derail his candidacy in the final stretch of the race.

Jones defeated Republican Jason Miyares, the incumbent who served one term.

The typically low-profile race was thrust into the national spotlight after a series of violent text messages Jones sent in 2022 surfaced last month . In those texts, Jones suggested that then-Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert, a Republican, deserved “bullets to the head.” In the message, Jones wrote: “Three people, two bullets. Gilbert, hitler, and pol pot.”

“Gilbert gets two bullets to the head,” Jones said, according to the messages released by the Republican Attorneys General Association . “Spoiler: put Gilb

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