Virginia Democrats are publicly standing by commonwealth attorney general candidate Jay Jones — despite his texts fantasizing about murdering the Republican former state House speaker and forcing his wife to watch her children die — but some in the party are quietly worrying that the refusal to dump him will hurt them in November.

“If I was a Democrat running for governor in Virginia or lieutenant governor, I would criticize him and separate myself from him as quickly as possible, because what he said was deplorable and reprehensible,” Democratic strategist Brad Bannon told The Post.

“They should avoid Jay Jones like the plague.”

Former Rep. Abigail Spanberger, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee, has criticized Jones’ comments, but has neither withdrawn her support nor called on h

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