Exclusive: Virginia’s Outgoing GOP Attorney General Jason Miyares Hints at 2029 Gubernatorial Run

Last Monday, a group of Republican attorneys general joined several female athletes for a high-profile news conference ahead of Supreme Court oral arguments on a pair of closely-watched cases involving transgender athletes in women’s and girls’ sports.

When the cameras were off, Virginia’s outgoing top law enforcement officer, Jason Miyares, told fellow Republican attorney general to “stay tuned” on whether he’s planning to run for governor in 2029.

For those who know Miyares personally, this update was unsurprising. As soon as he decided to run for reelection last time around, his plan was to run for governor in 2029 regardless of the 2025 result, according to a person familiar with his thinking. And before leaving office, Miyares participated in several regional thank-you dinners across the commonwealth, during which he expressed appreciation for their support and strongly hinted that he’s likely to run for chief executive next go-round.

“I believe in Virginia and in our future,” he said in a video message to Virginians last week. “I'm not going anywhere. Because without a setback, there can be no comeback.”

Miyares’s interest in running to succeed newly sworn-in Democratic Governor Abigail Spanberger also comes as no surprise to Virginia Republican donors, many of whom have long been expecting a 2029 gubernatorial run from Miyares and were disappointed when he decided to run for reelection as the commonwealth’s top prosecutor in 2025. Many donors and operatives saw Miyares as the only statewide Republican who could unite all factions of the GOP: from the grassroots activists and Trump supporters to the moderate business community and suburban voters.

Instead of Miyares as their 2025 gubernatorial nominee, Virginia Republicans were saddled with Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, an awkward politician who struggled to fundraise, excite the base, or find a consistent campaign message that could inspire voters like polished and wealthy first-time candidate Glenn Youngkin did in 2021.

After National Review broke the Jay Jones texting scandal in early October, many Miyares allies predicted the incumbent attorney general could defeat his embattled Democratic opponent, so long as Earle-Sears stemmed the bleeding at the top of the ticket and lost by seven points or fewer. The October surprise texting scandal — plus a damning report in the Richmond Times-Dispatch revealing that Jones had been charged with reckless driving and let off with a slap on the wrist a few years prior — supercharged the race and dominated the only attorney general debate. The revelations scrambled the Democratic ticket’s closing pitch and gave Virginia Republicans some eleventh-hour hope that at least one of their statewide candidates could stave off the impending blue wave.

A few weeks before the election, Miyares framed the race as a test of decency and experience. “By every objective standard, he has a criminal-first, victim-last mindset” and should be running for attorney general of California, not Virginia, Miyares told National Review of his opponent in October. “I’m confident, as we have this test of decency on the ballot, Virginians are going to pass this test.”

In the end, Democrats swept. Earle-Sears ended up losing by more than fifteen points—a stunning electoral defeat after Youngkin’s two-point victory just four years prior. Miyares lost by 6.6 points but outran the top of the ticket by roughly nine points, not enough to hold his seat but enough to remind many in his party that candidate quality matters.

A few days after his loss, Senate Republicans’ campaign arm asked Miyares if he was interested in running against Democratic Senator Mark Warner in 2026 and Miyares declined. Instead, the former attorney general has told allies in recent days he plans to soon join former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr’s strategic advisory and law firm Torridon Group, according to sources familiar with the matter.

Miyares declined to comment on whether he’s joining Torridon Group, and the firm did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Asked about his future political plans, former Miyares spokesman Shaun Kenney suggested that Democrats’ suite of ultra-progressive state legislative priorities have emboldened his 2029 political aspirations, even though that race is a long way off.

“I’ll tell you this, the recent proposed legislation from Virginia Democrats to raise taxes and make communities less safe has certainly galvanized his mood,” Kenney said.

Miyares is not the only ambitious Virginia politico putting out feelers for 2029. Virginia bars its chief executives from serving consecutive terms, meaning Spanberger can’t run for reelection. But even before Spanberger was sworn in last weekend as the commonwealth’s 75th governor, Virginia House of Delegates Speaker and fellow Democrat Don Scott began telling allies he’s considering a run for her seat next cycle, National Review first reported last week.