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| Attorney General Jason Miyares | |
|---|---|
| Name | Jason Miyares |
| Office | Attorney General of Virginia |
| Term start | January 15, 2022 |
| Predecessor | Mark Herring |
| Birth date | 18 June 1976 |
| Birth place | Hampton, Virginia |
| Party | Republican |
| Alma mater | University of Virginia School of Law, Virginia Tech |
Attorney General Jason Miyares Jason Miyares is the Attorney General of Virginia, serving since January 2022. He is a member of the Republican Party who previously served in the Virginia House of Delegates and practiced law in Hampton Roads. His tenure has involved litigation against federal agencies, policy shifts from his predecessor, and engagement with statewide legal and criminal justice issues.
Miyares was born in Hampton, Virginia, part of the Virginia Peninsula and the Hampton Roads metropolitan area, and raised in a family with Cuban heritage linked to Cuban-American relations. He attended Kecoughtan High School before matriculating at Virginia Tech, where he studied political science and participated in campus organizations related to student government. He earned his Juris Doctor at the University of Virginia School of Law, joining a cohort connected to alumni networks including American Bar Association affiliates and regional legal clinics.
After law school, Miyares clerked and worked in private practice in the Hampton Roads legal community, focusing on civil litigation, employment law, and appellate advocacy. He was admitted to the bar of the Virginia State Bar and appeared before tribunals such as the Virginia Supreme Court and federal courts within the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia. His firm affiliations and casework intersected with matters involving corporations based in Norfolk, Virginia, Newport News, Virginia, and regional healthcare providers, engaging with statutes like the Civil Rights Act in employment disputes and regulatory frameworks overseen by agencies such as the Department of Labor.
Miyares launched a campaign for elective office as a member of the Republican Party, winning a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates representing a district encompassing parts of Chesapeake, Virginia and Hampton, Virginia. In the House of Delegates he served on committees that interacted with legislators from the Virginia Senate and worked on legislation touching on criminal statutes, consumer protections, and state regulatory matters. He aligned with statewide figures including Glenn Youngkin during the 2021 statewide election cycle and participated in policy discussions with officials from the Office of the Governor of Virginia and county executives in Suffolk, Virginia and Virginia Beach, Virginia.
In his campaign for statewide office, Miyares challenged incumbent Mark Herring in the 2021 election for Attorney General of Virginia. The contest involved debates over issues such as litigation strategy against federal policy, enforcement priorities regarding narcotics statutes, and positions on constitutional interpretation aligning with jurists in the Supreme Court of Virginia and the United States Supreme Court. Campaign endorsements included figures from the Republican National Committee and regional elected officials from the Virginia Republican Party. He won the election and succeeded Herring, taking office in January 2022.
As Attorney General, Miyares reversed or re-evaluated several positions held by his predecessor, directing the Office of the Attorney General of Virginia to alter participation in multistate litigation with entities such as the Department of Justice, challenging regulations from the Environmental Protection Agency and counseling state agencies including the Virginia Department of Health and the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. He prioritized initiatives related to consumer protection, opioid litigation in coordination with localities like Norfolk, Virginia and Richmond, Virginia, and criminal justice matters interacting with prosecutors in the Commonwealth's Attorneys' Association of Virginia. His office filed suits and amicus briefs invoking doctrines debated before the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court.
Miyares' office has spearheaded litigation against federal executive actions and participated in national coalitions with other state attorneys general from both the National Association of Attorneys General and partisan coalitions within the State Attorneys General networks. High-profile matters included challenges to emergency public health measures involving the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, disputes over federal environmental rulemaking by the Environmental Protection Agency, and multistate suits concerning pharmaceutical manufacturers implicated in the opioid crisis, coordinating with local governments and judges in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia. His office also litigated consumer protection claims and joined briefings regarding Second Amendment litigation before courts influenced by precedents such as District of Columbia v. Heller.
Miyares is married and resides in the Hampton Roads area; his family ties reflect the Cuban diaspora connected to communities in Miami, Florida and the broader Cuban exile community. He is active in professional associations including the Virginia Bar Association and participates in civic organizations that often interact with institutions such as Christopher Newport University and regional chambers like the Chesapeake Regional Chamber of Commerce. He has drawn attention from media outlets across Virginia, including outlets in Richmond, Virginia and the Washington metropolitan area, and continues to shape state legal policy through collaboration with state and national legal actors.
Category:Attorneys General of Virginia Category:Virginia Republicans Category:People from Hampton, Virginia Category:University of Virginia School of Law alumni