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FIRST ON FOX: Scandal-plagued Virginia Democratic attorney general candidate Jay Jones got the Halloween treatment Friday, as Republicans unveiled tongue-in-cheek costumes lampooning his controversies and showcased them around the Richmond area.
Jones’ campaign has been dogged by multiple scandals, including an ongoing judicial investigation and violent text messages that surfaced earlier this month.
Adam Piper, executive director of the Republican Attorneys General Association (RAGA), which created the costumes, told Fox News Digital that dressing up as Jones "is scarier than Michael Myers or Freddy Krueger."
"Jay Jones is the ‘Scary Movie’ of a scandal-ridden politician — a mockery of public service with his ghosted ethics, killer text messages, criminal investigations, and a plot twist where the real monster is hiding in plain sight," Piper said, as the costumes were also displayed on a roving digital-billboard box truck that crisscrossed the densely populated Richmond-Henrico area on Friday.
"RIP: Here Lies My Political Opponent," read a tombstone next to a visage of Jones sporting a stovepipe hat and a shovel as an undertaker would.
A RAGA Halloween costume featuring Jay Jones is shown. (Courtesy: RAGA)
On October 3, news broke that Jones had engaged in a lengthy conversation with a Republican state delegate during which he envisioned the murder of then-House Speaker Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah.
Jones vented that Gilbert had crossed the aisle to eulogize the late Del. Joe Johnson, D-Bristol, whom he then suggested often discussed Democratic chatter with Republican leadership.
"These easy do-it-yourself costumes are proven to scare mothers, children, and voters alike. Even ‘Mr. Monopoly’ couldn’t buy back the public trust he’s buried," Piper said, as the organization shared images of some of the costume ideas:
"RIP: Here Lies My Political Opponent," read a tombstone next to a visage of Jones sporting a stovepipe hat and a shovel as an undertaker would, in one example.
A RAGA Halloween costume featuring Jay Jones is shown. (Courtesy: RAGA)
On October 3, news broke that Jones had engaged in a lengthy conversation with a Republican state delegate during which he envisioned the murder of then-House Speaker Todd Gilbert, R-Shenandoah.
Jones vented that Gilbert crossed the aisle to eulogize the late Del. Joe Johnson, D-Bristol, whom he then suggested often discussed Democratic chatter with Republican leadership.
"Last-minute Jay Jones Halloween costumes!" another slide from the Republican Attorneys General Association blared.
Another featured Jones dressed as Uncle Pennybags, clutching "Monopoly Money" and "Get Out of Jail Free" cards — a nod to his prior reckless driving conviction, which remains under investigation amid questions about his attested community service hours to his own political action committee and the NAACP of Virginia.
A RAGA Halloween costume featuring Jay Jones is shown. (RAGA)
Another costume built upon that scandal, featuring Jones as racecar driver #116 — the speed he was clocked by the New Kent County Sheriff’s Office — and holding a citation while an Interstate 64 shield hung in the background.
Jones was pulled over while headed eastbound toward Newport News on the infamously straight-arrow stretch of the major artery, which runs from St. Louis to Norfolk — and avoided jail time despite the high speed.
An official with New Kent County previously told Fox News Digital that Jones’ arrest had occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic and that Virginia enacted social distancing and other restrictions that led law enforcement to seek non-jail punishments for nonviolent or similar offenses to keep prisons open for the worst of the worst.
A RAGA Halloween costume featuring Jay Jones is shown. (Courtesy: RAGA)
RAGA also imagined Jones as a giant iPhone, with his face framed above a screen displaying a portion of his explicit text exchange with Del. Carrie Coyner, R-Hopewell. Coyner’s replies were grayed out as she appeared to try cutting him off.
"If those guys die before me I will go to their funerals to piss on their graves. Send them out awash in something," Jones wrote of Gilbert and other Republicans, which had followed his expression of ire toward Johnson’s bipartisanship.
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"Three people, two bullets: Gilbert, Hitler and Pol Pot: Gilbert gets two bullets to the head," the message continued.
Charles Creitz is a reporter for Fox News Digital.
He joined Fox News in 2013 as a writer and production assistant.
Charles covers media, politics and culture for Fox News Digital.
Charles is a Pennsylvania native and graduated from Temple University with a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism. Story tips can be sent to [email protected].
