JAHD KHALIL: Delegate Jones, thank you for joining us.

If you could just start off by introducing yourself and telling us why Virginians should pick you to be attorney general.

JAY JONES: I'm Jay Jones, running for attorney general, Democratic nominee, very proud to be on a ticket with future Governor Abigail Spanberger and future Lieutenant Governor Ghazala Hashmi.

And we need an attorney general who's going to step up and fight for Virginia, to put us first and not the president in these very challenging times, where the excess and overreach that's coming out of Washington is harming Virginians, our livelihoods, our pocketbooks, so many facets of our life.

And our attorney general has failed to step up and protect us.

I will do that and that's why I'm asking for people's vote come next Friday.

JAHD KHALIL: Can you talk a bit about your experience and tell us why you're qualified to do that?

JAY JONES: Well, I served in the General Assembly.

We did amazing things.

We expanded Medicaid, raised teacher pay, increased the minimum wage, protected civil rights and civil liberties in the commonwealth.

I've been an assistant attorney general, where we actually took out the largest ghost gun manufacturer in the country.

We kept our community safe by doing that.

We fought for working people.

And then for the last few years, I've been in the private sector, where I've actually had the opportunity to litigate against the governor and Jason Miyares, and we've had success in that regard.

And so I think my time in the public sector, my time in the private sector, my time in the legislature lends itself to this moment where we need someone who's going to step up and prioritize Virginia and put us first.

JAHD KHALIL: So recently you released a nine-page plan outlining how you want to make things more affordable for Virginians.

There's prosecuting junk fees, requiring pharmacy benefit managers to disclose rebates.

There's a lot of talk about taking on corporations.

It seems to me that a lot of these are going to require action by the General Assembly, but some don't.

Can you talk about where you want to take action yourself and where you want legislators to enact these changes and where you want to push for that?

JAY JONES: We're excited to use the Virginia Consumer Protection Act at our disposal.

We want to deploy resources in the office to meet the challenges of this particular moment.

Consumer protection is what I've done in the D.C.

Attorney General's Office.

It's where I really think we can lean in and have success to help peoples' pocketbooks here in Virginia.

But I look forward to working with the Democratic General Assembly come January to expand our authority so that we can attack these problems and really bring relief to families across Virginia who have been desperate for some action over these last 8 1/2 months in particular.

JAHD KHALIL: One of the spots in your affordability plan that I found very interesting was that you wanted to push to redefine small businesses as consumers.

Is that something that you have the authority to sort of interpret under the Virginia Consumer Protection Act or is that something that needs General Assembly approval to do?

JAY JONES: Well, we're certainly going to be creative and dynamic with how we're interpreting existing law.

And if we need to go get authority from the General Assembly, we will certainly do that.

I look forward to working with our legislative partners in both the House and the Senate and with Governor Spanberger to make sure that we are using every tool in our toolbox to bring relief to families, to provide them the care and necessity that they need in these challenging moments.

As we have moved around this commonwealth, affordability is what you hear time and time again.

People are being squeezed.

It is hard for families to put food on the table.

Costs continue to rise.

Housing affordability continues to be a problem.

And so we want to use every tool in our toolbox to make sure that we're attacking that problem head-on.

JAHD KHALIL: On housing in particular, there was a mention about surveillance pricing.

So that's when there's, you know, kind of data is used by housing providers or landlords to set rents, and then there was actually an anti-trust case that was brought up.

Is that something that you would join the lawsuit to go after this sort of like rental pricing algorithms that other attorney generals have joined?

JAY JONES: Absolutely, you know, there are 23 Democratic attorneys general, and they have done incredible work over these last 8 1/2 months in particular to fight for their states and their resources and their livelihoods and their citizens.

And I can't wait to do that on behalf of Virginia.

And so we do get to avail ourselves of the work that's already been done.

And that's a really big thing for us when we take office in January so that we can already hit the ground running and make sure we're using the resources at our disposal.

But we know that technology has developed rapidly.

We know that it's being used by corporations for good reasons and for bad reasons.

And we have to acknowledge that.

And so we want everybody to have a fair shot.

We want everybody to have the opportunity to put a roof over their head, and they shouldn't be denied that just because a program or an algorithm says so.

JAHD KHALIL: Just one last question about this.

So for PBMs, so those are pharmacy benefit managers, those are kind of the middleman between pharmacies and drug companies as I understand it.

One thing that you were looking to do was to make sure that pharmacy benefit managers disclose rebates that they get.

Can you explain how that actually will result in savings for them?

JAY JONES: So we want the transparency with the middlemen and the PBM.

We want to make sure that those costs are not being taken away from the local pharmacies, and so that those folks don't have to charge more to get more on the backend.

So that middle piece is really, really important for folks as we try to make sure that the costs are under control and they're getting the product that they deserve at the reasonable price.

And so that's a real key piece for us to get involved, and we want to make sure that we are leading in this reform-minded area.

And we'll work with the General Assembly to continue to sharpen that up and make sure that everybody has a fair shot.

But, we know that the Office of Attorney General has the authority to go do that, and we will use every resource at our disposal to make that a reality.

JAHD KHALIL: Another important affordability thing is utility rates.

So, the attorney general is the representative of rate payers at the State Corporation Commission, and they sort of more or less determine what utility bills are going to cost.

There's a rate case right now.

If you were before the State Corporation Commission in this rate case, what would you be telling them?

JAY JONES: Well, my client as attorney general is the people of Virginia.

And your fiduciary duty runs to them, not to the big corporation.

We want to make sure that we're advocating on behalf of regular people across Virginia.

That is the gist of the job at its core.

And so we would certainly be arguing vigorously to make sure that we can keep these rates as low as humanly possible.

We know, because of our conversations with people across Virginia, everyone is feeling the squeeze on their energy bills as well.

They continue to rise.

And we want to make sure that those bills are affordable and that there's transparency behind what's going into those bills, and that rate increases, if they happen, are justified.

And so we really want to make sure we're holding our utility companies accountable so that they're not ripping people off in Virginia who don't deserve it.

JAHD KHALIL: Data centers are using a lot of energy.

There's a discussion about having a certain rate class for data centers.

Is that something that you would support?

Where do you stand on that?

JAY JONES: Well, I think there's going to be a robust conversation in January when the General Assembly reconvenes about how we attack this issue.

I do think that our office will be involved in that conversation.

And we want to make sure that whatever comes out of the General Assembly this year or in subsequent years, the Attorney General's Office is very much involved in the enforcement of whatever ends up on the books.

This is something that we have heard about a lot.

Certainly, the demand for energy continues to increase.

Virginia, I believe, is now the number one importer of energy across the nation.

I think it's about 40% now.

And so, we've got to tackle these problems head-on while also making sure that people are paying the fair rate that they are supposed to.

JAHD KHALIL: Another role of the attorney general is sort of as the, you know, I've heard it referred as like the “top cop.” You have a public safety plan.

You're talking about shifting resources to violent crime prevention and prosecution, a dedicated unit for drug trafficking, another dedicated unit for crimes against children.

You talk about gun regulation a lot.

You've also been under a lot of criticism from your opponent for your voting record on some criminal justice issues or votes on criminal justice reform.

I know you say that you're proud of your record, and I think it's fair that you and the Attorney General have different philosophies when it comes to criminal justice reform.

But can you talk about why you voted for legislation that would allow people to reduce their sentences for certain, you know, behaviors and benchmarks that they do while incarcerated?

And, you know, if you think that that was the right vote still.

JAY JONES: Well again, like you said, I'm proud of my record in the General Assembly, where we allocated the largest increase in funds for law enforcement in the history of this commonwealth, Jason Miyares voted against that.

We cracked down on sex offenders.

We cracked down on human trafficking.

And so, the work that we did in my time in the General Assembly, I think did make Virginia safer.

We again allocated those resources in ways that in that time were, I think, really consistent with achieving our goals.

That's why, now in 2025, we've released this plan to continue to make Virginia safe.

The three prongs, like I think you mentioned, cracking down on violent crime, supporting victims, getting illegal guns off the street, and keeping our children safe.

And so, for me, this is something that I've learned from my parents.

My mother and father were violent crime prosecutors, then they were judges.

And so, keeping our communities safe is of, you know, the utmost priority for me.

And again, I've got two little boys, so I have every vested interest in making sure that they can grow up in a safe community, like everyone across Virginia should.

And so, the policies that we continue to pursue are all about making our communities as safe as humanly possible.

JAHD KHALIL: Do you feel that these programs like earned sentence credits and those sort of things make Virginia safer on the whole?

JAY JONES: I think every person who's elected in the General Assembly, any person who's in statewide office, any person who's in local office, has a vested interest in making sure that our communities are safe.

And we reevaluate policies constantly to make sure that they are achieving the goals.

And so I believe when the General Assembly comes back, we'll have a real robust conversation about combating crime here in Virginia.

My office will do everything that we can to make sure that communities across this commonwealth are supported and feel safe.

And I know that the legislators will do the same and that future Governor Spanberger obviously agrees on those things as well.

So, we have a lot of work to do.

We know that our communities still have some challenges, and we want to make sure that we're using all of the resources at our disposal, using every facet of the office to make sure we achieve that goal.

And I do think that, you know, how we deploy our resources is a reflection of our values.

And so, we want to make sure we're putting all of the effort and energy we can into this public safety plan, which we developed with state and local law enforcement, community-interested leaders, and folks who really care about making sure that we're achieving these goals.

And I can't wait to work with them come January to make that a reality.

JAHD KHALIL: Going back to when you and I spoke before the primary election, you said that you'd sue the Trump administration into oblivion on day one.

Do you mean that you're going to be filing new lawsuits on day one or joining ones that already exist that have been filed by other attorneys general across the country?

JAY JONES: We will join other lawsuits on day one to avail ourselves of those protections, including the lawsuit that's working its way through the system right now as it relates to the tariffs, which have been deemed illegal by an appeals court, so that we can't have these policies harming Virginia.

We've got to step up and protect our assets, our resources, our people, and their bottom lines and their livelihoods.

We'll also sue the administration whenever there's excess and overreach.

That is the job of the attorney general to protect people in Virginia.

We can't let Washington run all over us.

We can't let them do these things at our expense.

Jason Miyares has had every opportunity to demonstrate to people that he works for us and not for Donald Trump, and he doesn't have much to show for himself.

And so, I think people are really desperate for leadership.

They're desperate for someone who's going to put Virginia first.

And that's why I think we're going to be successful in this election and finally get Virginia back on track and away from these dangerous and reckless policies that are harming people all across the commonwealth.

JAHD KHALIL: Why is this an important election for people to be voting in?

JAY JONES: This is an important election for so many reasons, but again, as we move around this commonwealth, people talk about affordability.

They talk about opportunity.

They talk about their security.

That's what this election is about.

It's about letting Washington come in and tell us what to do or fighting for Virginia, putting us first, and protecting our rights, our values, our freedoms.

That is the choice before you.

I don't work for Donald Trump.

I don't work for Washington.

I work for the people of Virginia.

And that's why we need an attorney general who's going to put us first.

And I will do that.

Jason Miyares has failed to demonstrate that he can do that.

And if he doesn't want to do his job, I'll come in and we'll go and make sure Virginia is the best place possible for people to live, work, and play.

JAHD KHALIL: Delegate Jones, thank you so much.

JAY JONES: Thanks a lot, man, I appreciate you.