On the Issues

Protecting Virginia against the Trump administration

Donald Trump is waging an unprecedented assault on Virginia communities, jobs, and even civil rights. Across the country, state Attorneys General have been stepping up to defend democracy, protect families, seniors, and the rights of their citizens, and ensure that support for our schools, health care systems, law enforcement, and so many other critical priorities remain intact. 

But here in Virginia, MAGA extremist Attorney General Jason Miyares has put politics first and refused to join in the effort to defend against unconstitutional and un-American Trump policies.

When Trump illegally waged a chaotic trade war and imposed disastrous tariffs that would raise costs on the average Virginia family by thousands of dollars a year and make it harder for Virginia’s small businesses, farmers, and manufacturers to get by, 12 Attorneys General sued him in court and won, protecting their states’ economies and family budgets. But Jason Miyares was not among them – because he took Trump’s side and refused to do his job of defending Virginia, instead putting partisan politics first.

When Trump attempted to illegally fire tens of thousands of Virginia workers out of political retribution, 20 Attorneys General went to court to stop him. They sued to protect these workers’ jobs — many of whom are veterans and provide key services, from healthcare to law enforcement—because mass firings without legal justification don’t just hurt families, they destabilize entire communities. But Miyares refused to act. So when the coalition of states suing the Trump admin won a victory in court halting the firings, Virginians were left unprotected as the legal measure only applied to the states that sued and not states that sided with Trump.

When Trump froze federal loan and grant funding, putting thousands of small businesses, law enforcement jobs, and healthcare providers at risk, Attorneys General across the country took action and secured legal rulings stopping the extreme move. Miyares, once again, stayed on the sidelines. And again Virginia was left unprotected as the injunction stopping the halt in funding applied only to states that took action.

From working to block Elon Musk’s access to citizens’ private records to halting the plot to abolish the Department of Education – state Attorneys General have gone to court to get results and stop the Trump administration, while Miyares has done nothing.

It’s long past time to get Virginia off the sidelines and back in the game of protecting its citizens from an autocratic administration seeking to destroy what makes our Commonwealth and country great. As MAGA Republicans are gearing up to gut Medicaid while Elon Musk guts Medicare and Social Security services that Virginia seniors rely on, this fight is only becoming more urgent.

As Attorney General, I will always put the well being of Virginia first and never stay silent out of party loyalty so we can best protect Virginia families and communities.

Lowering costs, holding corporate rulebreakers accountable, and fostering growth and innovation

As Attorney General, Jason Miyares has made clear that he works first and foremost for the corporate interests that have given him millions of dollars to keep him in office, because they know that he won’t hold them accountable on behalf of Virginians. It’s why Dominion Energy is his number one donor – and Miyares has not only refused to take them on when they take advantage of working people by jacking up rates, but he even used taxpayer dollars to join a lawsuit to enable them to make larger profits while polluting our communities. Whether it’s Dominion Energy or any other corporate interest – that time is at an end. When a large corporation breaks the law and unfairly makes working families pay more in the pursuit of higher profits, Virginians need an Attorney General who will fight back. 

In the Legislature, I took on Dominion to stop them from unfairly raising rates, and as an Assistant Attorney General I fought to block the Kroger-Albertsons merger to prevent higher grocery prices. I’ll continue that record as Attorney General.

I’ll prioritize cracking down on corporate hedge funds that are buying up housing and colluding to raise rent on Virginia families, and go after big banks that discriminate in the housing process so everyone has a fair shot at a safe and affordable place to live.

I’ll take on predatory lenders improperly ripping off Virginians who are working hard and trying to get ahead.

We need to level the playing field for small businesses and increase competition by targeting unfair, anti-competitive practices by the biggest multinational corporations who use their market share and resources to crowd out local Virginia competitors and stop rival entrepreneurs from innovating. 

We also need to position Virginia at the cutting edge of innovation, and ensure that we don’t hold back positive growth in the digital economy, from blockchain advancements, to digital assets, to artificial intelligence. These technologies, when implemented in beneficial ways, can be transformative in supercharging economic growth, expanding opportunity to more Virginians, and boosting progress. It should be the government’s role to facilitate and guide their adoption in ways that grow the middle class, while making Virginia into a world leader in the digital economy – not erect barriers to innovation based on outdated fears. By establishing clear and fair frameworks for the future, we can foster innovation, allow beneficial technologies to grow, and protect Virginians from legitimately bad actors.

I’ll target corporate polluters to clean up Virginia’s air, water, and soil, and fight back against corporate-funded attempts to roll back clean air and water laws by opposing lawsuits and court decisions that will hurt Virginians.

I will deploy the Office of the Attorney General to help Virginians navigate complex healthcare billing schemes so they can be sure they aren’t getting taken advantage of by insurance companies or unscrupulous providers. We’ll specifically target resources toward seniors to make sure they are prepared with the information they need to understand their dealings with drug and insurance companies and healthcare providers, from workshops to easy to digest briefings.

And we must fight on behalf of Virginia’s workers to go after wage theft, worker misclassification, and other illegal schemes that take money hard-working people have earned out of their pockets.

Keeping Virginians safe and ensuring a fair justice system for all

No job is more important for Virginia’s Attorney General than ensuring the safety and well-being of our communities. That means both working closely with law enforcement and local prosecutors to ensure they have the support and resources needed to go after violent criminals and drug dealers, while leading the way in the Attorney General’s office to crack down on domestic violence and crimes against seniors and fight back against the opioid crisis.

We also must prioritize getting illegal guns off our streets – a fight I’ve focused on both in the Virginia Legislature – where we expanded background checks and passed a red flag law to get guns out of the hands of domestic abusers – and as an Assistant Attorney General fighting to hold ghost gun manufacturers accountable for putting untraceable weapons on the street.

At the same time, we will continue to make Virginia a more just state for all its citizens and communities. I’ll work to build closer ties and trust between law enforcement and the neighborhoods they serve, to allow police to do their jobs more safely and achieve better results targeting criminals. We’ll create an expanded network of Attorney’s General satellite offices throughout our state to better receive community feedback and input into how best to keep people safe, and expand resources for law enforcement training so they are fully prepared to do their critically important jobs.

Protecting Virginians’ civil and constitutional rights

Virginians’ civil and constitutional rights are under threat like never before. As Attorney General, I will fight every day to defend them.

I’ve helped lead the charge to protect the fundamental freedom to vote in Virginia, working with the Virginia NAACP to sue Governor Glenn Youngkin when he attacked voting rights. As Attorney General, I’ll create a Voter Protection Unit within the office to stop illegal attempts to infringe on voting rights, crack down on voter intimidation, the improper restriction of access to polling places, or illegal voter roll purges, and maintain a Voting Rights Hotline.

I’ll make protecting civil rights a true priority for the Attorney General’s Office. I’ll create a Civil Rights Division within the office that will no longer be an afterthought, and is empowered to take aggressive action on behalf of Virginians’ basic rights. This unit will ensure that no Virginian is discriminated against, and that no entity – including the federal government – is able to take away their constitutional rights and liberties.

Protecting the right to abortion in Virginia

Virginia is the last state in the south to preserve the right of women to make their own healthcare decisions. I’ll fight to keep it that way.

I was proud to expand abortion rights in the Virginia Legislature and to serve on the Virginia Planned Parenthood board. I’ll always work to ensure Virginia women, doctors and clinics are protected to the full extent of the law and to support Planned Parenthood and local community health centers providing healthcare to women against attempts to bankrupt them through the legal system. 

I’ll also join the multi-state coalition of Attorneys General who are fighting back against attempts to restrict abortion rights through the courts, and create a reproductive rights hotline where women can receive information about their rights in Virginia to ensure they are fully informed so those rights can be protected.