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There was a time when suggesting that your opponents should watch their children die would automatically cost you an election. That era appears to be over, after Democrat Jay Jones was elected to be Virginia’s next attorney general on Tuesday night.

Jones had for most of the race held a tight lead over the incumbent, Republican Jason Miyares, and been a fairly unremarkable candidate. And it seemed until early October that his election would come down to a referendum on how Virginians felt about the Republican Party. It was a good place for him to be, given that the state typically votes against the party in the White House, but it wasn’t a sure bet.

The race chan

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