Democratic megadonors Soros and Pritzker are under scrutiny after funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars to Virginia Democrat Jay Jones, who is facing widespread outrage over text messages where he fantasized about shooting a Republican lawmaker and wishing death on his colleague’s children.
George Soros’s Democracy PAC donated $250,000 to Jones’s campaign on Sept. 30, while Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker added $20,000 the same day, according to campaign finance records. The donations came just before National Review revealed that Jones told a colleague in 2022 he wanted to put “two bullets” in then–House Speaker Todd Gilbert’s head and called Gilbert’s children “little fascists.”
The scandal has shaken Virginia’s attorney general race, where Jones is running against Republican incumbent Jason Miyares, and is threatening to drag down other Democratic candidates including Abigail Spanberger and Ghazala Hashmi. Despite the controversy, neither Soros nor Pritzker has commented.
Pritzker, who has pushed strict gun control laws, recently blamed Republicans for “ratcheting up” political violence, saying, “I think the president’s rhetoric often foments it.” Ironically, the governor’s donation to Jones came the same day he condemned Trump for saying violent gangs should be “taken out.”
Soros’s Open Society Foundations and Democracy PAC have long bankrolled progressive prosecutors and anti-gun groups like Everytown for Gun Safety, which quietly scrubbed its endorsement of Jones after the scandal broke.
According to a Trafalgar Group poll, 60 percent of voters said Jones’s violent texts were impacting their decision, with Jones now trailing Miyares by six points.
