Norfolk Delegate Jay Jones, a Democrat, is stepping down from his General Assembly seat and teasing a future run for higher office.
Jones wrote in an open letter published Thursday that he’s expecting his first child, saying, “I want to put my family first and be the best dad and the most supportive and present husband that I can possibly be.”
He’s held the 89th District House of Delegates seat since 2017.
The Democrat won a third term in November, keeping his seat as Republicans won big elsewhere and retook a majority in the House.
A special election will be held to fill Jones’ now-empty seat.
But the 32-year-old lawyer hinted that his resignation doesn’t mean a total disappearance from public life.
Jones wrote that his work and service isn’t done and that may include a run for Attorney General in 2025.
He made an unsuccessful bid to be the Democratic nominee for that office earlier this year. He lost to incumbent Mark Herring, who lost in the general election to Virginia Beach’s Jason Miyares.
Jones is the latest in his prominent political family to hold office.
He’s the son of Jerrauld Jones, who for 14 years held the same House of Delegates seat his son is now leaving. The elder Jones is now a judge on Norfolk’s Circuit Court.
His grandfather was a prominent lawyer in Norfolk who fought against segregation and Massive Resistance in the 1950s and 1960s, becoming the first Black member of Norfolk’s School Board.
