Do Virginia voters want an activist attorney general who is ready to use the office’s legal firepower to battle housing discrimination, protect workers’ rights, defend abortion rights for women and pursue criminal justice reform?
Democrat Mark R. Herring, 60, hopes so as he seeks a third four-year term as “the people’s lawyer.”
During the first eight years, he has put Virginia’s attorney general’s office on the front lines in defending same-sex mar- riage, opposing white supremacist symbols and supporting limits on gun sales.
A narrow winner in his two previous races, Mr. Herring of Loudoun County is facing off this time against Republican Del- egate Jason S. Miyares, 45, of Virginia Beach.
Mr. Miyares is pushing a law-and-order agenda that would make crime and protecting police officers from brutality charges priorities.
With less than a week to go, polls appear to show Mr. Herring holding a lead over his rival, who is of Cuban heritage and is vying to be the first Hispanic to hold a statewide office.
Mr. Herring has built a substantial record. He set the tone in 2014 when he helped clear the way for same-sex marriage by refusing to defend a state constitutional amendment that barred such nuptials.
During his tenure, he has supported restoration of rights for felons, sued school districts that closed gifted-and-talented programs to Black children and pushed for reforms in police oversight.
In recent months, he won a case enabling the governor to take down the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Richmond, the largest symbol of white supremacy in the state. He has filed lawsuits against corporations that misclassified workers to avoid paying taxes and gone to court to challenge 29 companies that have been turning away tenants seeking to pay rent with federal housing vouchers.
Mr. Miyares also has built a record since being elected to the General Assembly in 2015, including supporting unfettered gun sales, battling legislation to address climate change and opposing criminal justice reforms.
In his campaign, Mr. Miyares has described Mr. Herring as part of a “far left” monopoly that he claims has created a “criminal- first, victim-last mindset.”
Based on his ads, Mr. Miyares, a former prosecutor in Virginia Beach, plans to push for the attorney general office to take over prosecution of crimes from local commonwealth’s attorneys.
He also has attacked Mr. Herring for not doing enough to rein in the Virginia Parole Board that has been under fire for the early release of some offenders, even though fact checking has shown the attorney general’s office played no role in the decisions and has no control over the board.
Mr. Herring counters that Mr. Miyares has failed to recognize and credit the work his office has done on crime. That includes shining a spotlight on and prosecuting human trafficking cases, enforcing laws on gun crimes and taking the initiative to clear a backlog of untested rape kits that blocked prosecutions of those engaged in serious sexual assaults, Mr. Herring noted.
Mr. Herring also has held meetings and conferences around the state in cooperation with local law enforcement to seek ideas for reducing gun violence.
“I’ll stack my public safety record up against anyone,” Mr. Herring said. “But we also know that it’s important to make sure that we’re doing everything we can to make policing safer and our criminal justice system fair. We can do both of those things.”
Mr. Herring also supports eliminating cash bail, which Mr. Miyares backs to keep people who have not been convicted locked up while awaiting trial.
Mr. Herring also supports a legal change that would make it easier to sue police officers for abuse, while Mr. Miyares argues courts ought to almost automatically dismiss civil suits
that victims bring against police officers because such cases only benefit “trial lawyers.”
Mr. Miyares also is calling for an increase in mandatory minimum sentences in a bid to fill up state prisons at a time when the General Assembly has sought to limit such sentences.
On the abortion front, Mr. Miyares opposes a woman’s right to choose except in the cases of pregnancies resulting from rape or incest or that threaten a woman’s health.
Mr. Herring, however, wants to leave abortion in the hands of women and their doctors.
When the U.S. Supreme Court allowed a strict Texas abortion law to take effect on Sept. 1, Mr. Herring quickly joined 24 other attorneys general in filing a brief supporting a U.S. Justice Department challenge to the law.
Mr. Herring also cited his work to reverse decisions of his Republican predecessor, Ken Cuccinelli, that sought to shut down abortion clinics in Virginia.
When it comes to COVID-19, Mr. Herring noted his office has successfully defended in court every control measure that Gov. Ralph S. Northam imposed as a public health necessity.
Mr. Miyares said he would have refused to represent the governor when he disagreed with him.
For Mr. Herring, Mr. Miyares has sought to focus on being the son of an immigrant to avoid frankly addressing his archcon- servative record of opposing everything from climate change to restrictions on gun sales.
Mr. Herring said if voters re-elect him to another four-year term, he will continue to fight in court some of the key issues of the day, such as gun violence prevention, voting rights, women’s reproductive rights and health care.
He said Mr. Miyares would not because he is “wildly out of step with the majority of Virginians. There could not be a clearer contrast between the two of us.”
As of Sept. 30, Mr. Herring’s campaign has raised $6.2 million, while Mr. Miyares’ campaign has raised $3.3 million.
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