Jason Miyares

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Jason Miyares
Jason Miyares in November 2021.jpg
Attorney General-elect of Virginia
Assuming office
January 15, 2022
GovernorGlenn Youngkin (elect)
SucceedingMark Herring
Member of the Virginia House of Delegates
from the 82nd district
Assumed office
January 13, 2016
Preceded byBill DeSteph
Personal details
Born
Jason Stuart Miyares

(1976-02-11) February 11, 1976 (age 45)
Greensboro, North Carolina, U.S.
Political partyRepublican
Spouse(s)Page Atkinson
Children3
ResidenceVirginia Beach, Virginia, U.S.
EducationJames Madison University (BBA)
College of William and Mary (JD)

Jason Stuart Miyares (born February 11, 1976) is an American lawyer and politician. A Republican, he was elected a member of the Virginia House of Delegates on November 3, 2015, from the 82nd district which encompasses part of Virginia Beach. He was elected Attorney General of Virginia in 2021 and will take office on January 15, 2022.

Early life and education[]

Miyares was born in Greensboro, North Carolina and attended public schools in Virginia Beach.[1] His family had fled from Cuba in 1965.[2] Miyares earned a Bachelor of Business Administration from James Madison University and a Juris Doctor from College of William & Mary’s Law School.[1] He later served as an assistant commonwealth's attorney in Virginia Beach.[3][4]

Career[]

Miyares worked on George Allen's 2000 Senate campaign.[5] He was later campaign manager and advisor to Republican Scott Rigell in the 2010 and 2012 congressional elections.[4][6] He was later a partner with the consulting firm Madison Strategies.[4]

Virginia House of Delegates[]

In 2015, Miyares ran for the Virginia House of Delegates' seat being vacated by Bill DeSteph, who ran successfully for the Virginia State Senate. Unopposed in the June 2015 Republican primary, he defeated Democrat Bill Fleming in the November 2015 general election.[7] He was the first Cuban American elected to the Virginia General Assembly.[2] He was reelected in 2017 and 2019.[8] Miyares voted against the Medicaid expansion bill (HB 5001) in the 2018 legislative session.[9]

He endorsed Marco Rubio in the 2016 Republican presidential primaries, and was Rubio's Virginia campaign co-chairman.[10] In 2016, amid the Cuban thaw, Miyares criticized Governor Terry McAuliffe's outreach to Cuba.[11] Miyares introduced a non-binding resolution (H.J. 1777) in 2016 condemning the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement.[12][13]

Miyares opposes abortion, with exceptions in cases of rape, incest and protecting the life of the mother.[14] He supports the death penalty, and opposed the decision to abolish capital punishment in Virginia in 2021.[15][16] In 2020, Miyares opposed legislation to increase the minimum wage in Virginia.[17]

In August 2020, he offered HB 5037, a bill that would grant immunity, except in cases of willful misconduct or gross negligence, to public officials and businesses who followed public health measures to prevent the transmission of COVID-19.[18]

In September 2020, Miyares voted against legislation to authorize local governments to remove Confederate monuments on public property.[19]

Virginia attorney general[]

See also: 2021 Virginia Attorney General election

In May 2021, Miyares was nominated as the Republican candidate for Virginia Attorney General. He ran against Mark Herring, the incumbent Democratic attorney general, who sought a third term in the November 2021 general election.[14][20] Miyares was selected at the Virginia Republican Party's "unassembled" convention, in which party delegates cast ranked-choice ballots at polling sites across the state.[20] Miyares defeated three other candidates: Leslie Haley, Chuck Smith, and Jack White.[20] In the final round, Miyares defeated Smith, a hard-right candidate, by a closer-than-expected margin of 52% to 48%.[21][22]

During his campaign against Herring, Miyares emphasized crime issues.[14] He opposed proposals for the elimination of qualified immunity and declined to take a position on what he would do in the Bijan Ghaisar case.[14] In the November 2021 election, Miyares defeated Herring in a tight race, becoming the first Hispanic and Cuban American to be elected Attorney General of Virginia.[23][24]

Electoral history[]

Date Election Candidate Party Votes %
Virginia House of Delegates, 82nd district
November 3, 2015[25] General Jason S. Miyares Republican 10,046 65.19
William W. Fleming Democratic 5,335 34.62
Write-ins 29 0.19
Bill DeSteph ran for Senate; seat stayed Republican
Date Election Candidate Party Votes %
Virginia Attorney General
November 2, 2021[26] General Jason S. Miyares Republican 1,647,525 50.36%
Mark R. Herring Democratic 1,621,212 49.55%
Write-ins 2,996 0.09%

Personal life[]

Miyares and his wife, Page (Atkinson) Miyares, have three daughters and live in Virginia Beach, Virginia.[27] His father-in-law, John Atkinson, was formerly treasurer of Virginia Beach.[4]

References[]

  1. ^ a b "Official Legislative Profile".
  2. ^ a b Vozella, Laura (January 2, 2016). "Va. Republican challenges McAuliffe to meet with dissidents in Cuba". The Washington Post. Retrieved April 24, 2016.
  3. ^ McKinney, Matt (November 4, 2015). "Miyares wins Virginia House of Delegates 82nd District". The Virginian-Pilot. Retrieved April 24, 2016.
  4. ^ a b c d Matt McKinney, Miyares wins Virginia House of Delegates 82nd District, The Virginian-Pilot (November 4, 2014).
  5. ^ Jenna Portnoy, How George Allen's chief of staff inspired legislation to make it easier for gay couples to raise children, Washington Post (February 26, 2019).
  6. ^ Todd Allen Wilson, Hirschbiel calls for reform of Congress, pay cuts for lawmakers, Daily Press (July 11, 2012).
  7. ^ Official election results. Virginia State Board of Elections
  8. ^ Miyares wins GOP nod for attorney general, Inside NoVa (May 10, 2021).
  9. ^ "HB5001". LIS Virginia. Retrieved October 31, 2019.
  10. ^ Laura Vozzella, Rubio announces more Virginia endorsements, Washington Post (February 2, 2016).
  11. ^ Schneider, Gregory (February 1, 2017). "Richmond notebook: Rapt silence, then applause for a lawmaker with a critique of McAuliffe's Cuba outreach". The Washington Post.
  12. ^ "STATEWIDE JEWISH COMMUNITY PRAISES THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY FOR OVERWHELMINGLY PASSING H177, A FORCEFUL CONDEMNATION OF THE ANTI-ISRAEL BDS MOVEMENT" (PDF). JCRC. March 9, 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 3, 2016.
  13. ^ "LIS > Bill Tracking > HJ177 > 2016 session". lis.virginia.gov. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
  14. ^ a b c d Matthew Barakat, Herring seeks 3rd term as AG; Miyares stands in his way, Associated Press (October 12, 2021).
  15. ^ Sarah Rankin, Virginia House joins Senate in voting to end death penalty, Associated Press (February 5, 2021).
  16. ^ Denise Lavoie, Virginia, with 2nd-most executions, outlaws death penalty, Associated Press (March 24, 2021).
  17. ^ Gregory S. Schneider, [1], Washington Post (March 8, 2020).
  18. ^ "Virginia lawmakers working to pass bills making it tougher to sue over COVID-19 issues". WTKR. August 27, 2020. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  19. ^ Laura Vozzella, Two Republicans running statewide in Virginia back Lee statue removal, with varying degrees of enthusiasm, Washington Post (September 9, 2020).
  20. ^ a b c Virginia GOP announces AG nominee; vote-counting to continue, Associated Press (May 9, 2021).
  21. ^ Candidate seeks recount in Virginia attorney general race, Associated Press (May 10, 2021).
  22. ^ Mel Leonor, Del. Jason Miyares edges Chuck Smith to win GOP nomination for attorney general, Richmond Times-Dispatch (May 10, 2021).
  23. ^ Nate Raymond, Republican Miyares defeats Herring in Virginia attorney general race, Reuters (November 3, 2021)
  24. ^ Miyares defeats Herring in tight race for Virginia attorney general, Daily Press (November 3, 2021).
  25. ^ "November 2015 General Election Official Results". Virginia State Board of Elections. Retrieved May 7, 2016.
  26. ^ "November 2021 General Election Official Results". Virginia State Board of Elections.
  27. ^ "Del. Jason Miyares running for Va. attorney general in 2021". WAVY.com. December 2, 2020. Retrieved December 19, 2020.

External links[]

Virginia House of Delegates
Preceded by Member of the Virginia House of Delegates
from the 82nd district
2016–present 		Succeeded by
Party political offices
Preceded by Republican nominee for Attorney General of Virginia
2021 		Most recent
Legal offices
Preceded by Attorney General of Virginia
Taking office 2022 		Elect
Retrieved from ""