The vandalism comes after NR revealed that the Democratic attorney general candidate in Virginia fantasized about shooting a Republican colleague.
Republican candidates running for various offices in Virginia are experiencing an uptick in political animosity just weeks before the election, with many reporting disturbing vandalism of their yard signs throughout the state.
On October 14, Republican Virginia House candidate Junaid Khan’s yard signs were vandalized in Loudoun County, spray-painted with phrases like “trans rights” and “fascist pig.” Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears had road signs that were defaced as well. Police responded to the Khan sign incident, according to a local news outlet, and while the vandalism is currently under investigation, they cannot share any details at this time.
Then, on October 15, yard signs for John Reid, the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor, were vandalized. Further, Attorney General Jason Miyares also had signs that were destroyed.
“Ok- enough. Can people just stop being violent and destructive. Your vote is your vote- you can do with it whatever you’d like but destroying other people’s signs? It’s just gutter behavior and it’s not how we behave in Virginia,” Reid said in a post on X. “I’ve been putting signs up around election season for over 40 years and I have never damaged an opponents signs. Not once. Have some class, obey the law and common decency, and stop being thugs (or being fueled by rage) and let’s debate issues instead of intimidate!”
Political violence has been a hot topic of conversation in Virginia of late. National Review‘s Audrey Fahlberg recently reported that the Democratic candidate for attorney general, Jay Jones, had previously fantasized about shooting and killing Republican Virginia House Speaker Todd Gilbert in a series of text messages to a former colleague.
The revelation led many Republicans, including President Donald Trump, to call for Jones to suspend his campaign. Democrats, however, have refused to call on Jones to drop out of the race.
Democratic candidate for Virginia governor Abigail Spanberger was asked multiple times during her recent debate against Earle-Sears if she would withdraw her endorsement of Jones and refused to answer the question.
“Virginia Democrats are silent on these acts of intimidation, just like they were silent on the violent rhetoric following the death of Charlie Kirk, and just like they refused to call on Jay Jones to drop out of the race following revelations that he wished death on the children of his political opponents,” Virginia GOP said in a statement.
This past September, Kirk was assassinated on Utah Valley University’s campus. The alleged assassin, Tyler Robinson, was living with his 22-year-old trans-identifying partner at the time of murder. Robinson had reportedly became more political leading up to the assassination, and charged messages were found inscribed on the bullet casings, including “Hey, fascist. Catch!,” “If you read this, you are gay,” and “Bella Ciao,” lyrics taken from a prominent Italian antifascist anthem.
“I have been clear throughout my career that vandalism, whether it targets a local campaign office, a yard sign, or any other property, is never acceptable. Destroying or defacing what belongs to others is not an act of civic engagement, it is an act of disrespect,” Democratic Party of Virginia Chair Senator Lamont Bagby said in a statement to National Review. “The same holds true for the destruction we witnessed at our nation’s Capitol on January 6, and there is no place for it in our democracy.”
Many of the Virginia yard signs, defaced with either pro-transgender statements or transgender flag designs, are representative of the heated conversation around transgender issues in Virginia, as well.
Khan, for example, has been adamant in his support of parental rights, protecting women’s sports, and promoting school safety, including the protection of girls’ locker rooms and spaces, according to his campaign’s website. The words spray-painted on the signs, as well as the color and pattern of the transgender flag, appear to be in opposition to Khan’s stance.
Atoosa Reaser, the Democratic incumbent who has held the delegate seat since 2024, previously served on the Loudoun County school board. While serving, she reportedly voted in favor of Loudoun’s transgender and locker room policies. The policy allowed students to use whichever locker room and bathroom aligns with their preferred gender.
Northern Virginia schools have been at the forefront of this issue. Five school districts — Alexandria City Public Schools, Arlington Public Schools, Fairfax County Public Schools, Loudoun County Public Schools, and Prince William County Public Schools — are currently at risk of losing federal funding for refusing to protect female spaces. The Trump administration’s Department of Education cites Title IX concerns, specifically with allowing transgender students and people to use the restroom and locker room of their choosing.
Recently, a transgender-identifying male sex offender was able to sit in a girls’ locker room in Arlington Public Schools. The incident was ignored, even after parents pressed school administration multiple times.
Virginia Democrats, most notably Spanberger in her recent debate, are also not forthcoming with their condemnation of transgender men in girls’ locker rooms, nor their commitment to protect women’s sports and spaces. In the recent gubernatorial debate, she also refused to answer this question.