JAY JONES: I appreciate you.

May God bless every single one of you in this commonwealth.

Thank you so much.

BILLY SHIELDS: As part of a ticket that's breaking the mold, Jay Jones is no exception.

The Democrat is stepping into office as Virginia's first Black attorney general, and says he'll be focused on his top priority keeping Virginians safe.

JAY JONES: The weight of this responsibility is not lost on me, as the first Black attorney general in the 407-year history of Virginia.

But what is most important right now is to get to work for the people of Virginia.

They delivered a resounding message in November that they will not stand for federal overreach, that they want to put Virginia first.

BILLY SHIELDS: The former state delegate and assistant attorney general comes from a long line of public servants.

Jay Jones even served in the same House seat his father, Jerrauld Jones, held for many years.

On the campaign trail, Democrats spoke about addressing affordability for Virginians.

Jones says he's already looking into lowering costs.

JAY JONES: We'll work in conjunction with, governor-elect Spanberger, but we also recently announced the creation of a new division in the attorney general's office, the Public Advocacy Division, where all of our affirmative litigation will live.

And they will be really focused on delivering on the promises that we talked about all through the fall, about putting money back in people's pockets to really ramp up our consumer protection activities in this office so that we are returning that money to our citizens, that we are protecting their interests.

BILLY SHIELDS: What do the first 100 days in office look like for you?

JAY JONES: We are going to join lawsuits in conjunction with some other states to protect Virginia's interests and our values and our resources, protecting those federal employees who were laid off en masse in 2025 to make sure that we protect our education funding and to make sure that we make Virginia the most affordable place possible by suing to maintain the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

That, among many other things, we are looking at and assessing over the first few weeks in office to make sure that there aren't any landmines, that we know what the previous administration has gotten ourselves into that may be in opposition to the values of Virginians.

BILLY SHIELDS: Jones says he'll look at existing laws and make recommendations to the legislature for possible changes.

He's also promised to be a bulwark against federal overreach and protect the people of the commonwealth.

JAY JONES: I think the major overarching thing that we've heard from Virginians since the election and even before, is that they don't feel safe.

They don't feel secure in their communities.

And that is the most important job of any leader in elected office to keep our communities safe.

And as attorney general, that's what I'll be focused on for these next four years.

We will do a full assessment of all of the things that my predecessor has done to make sure that those are in line with what we've been talking about in terms of protecting Virginia's interests.

BILLY SHIELDS: Billy Shields, VPM News.