08/10/2025
Youngkin, Miyares deserve Northam’s thanks, not his scorn
George Allen
August 9, 2025 at 6:05 PM EDT
Attorney General of Virginia Jason Miyares speaks during a press conference in Norfolk on Aug. 9, 2023 announcing sentencing for two human trafficking cases in Hampton Roads. (Billy Schuerman / The Virginian-Pilot)
Attorney General of Virginia Jason Miyares speaks during a press conference in Norfolk on Aug. 9, 2023 announcing sentencing for two human trafficking cases in Hampton Roads. (Billy Schuerman / The Virginian-Pilot)
Gov. Ralph Northam’s ploy to walk back his deleterious record as governor against the ascending record of Gov. Glenn Youngkin and Attorney General Jason Miyares is a grasping revisionist effort (“Miyares sided with Trump, Virginia’s economy is paying the price,” Other Views, Aug. 3).
Northam failed to mention what we all remember most about his tenure, namely his heavy-handed approach of shuttering businesses, schools and places of worship while keeping ABC stores open; linking Virginia to California’s elitist electric vehicles mandate; costly unreliable and regressive energy schemes; and doing nothing as riots engulfed our cities, leaving many Virginians feeling abandoned and betrayed.
What’s more, Virginia struggled under Northam to recover to its February 2020 pre-pandemic employment of 4,088,600. While other states’ jobs quickly bounced back, Virginia didn’t do so until August 2022. (To be accurately fair, 133,100 new jobs were created during his term before the pandemic hit, using February 2020 numbers.)
In fact, Northam’s record was so terrible, Virginians began voting with their feet, with thousands fleeing the Northam economy.
Here are the facts. When Northam took office in February 2018, there were 3,955,500 employed in Virginia. By the time he left, only 4,031,500 were employed — a net gain of only 36,000.
Today we live in brighter days. Since Youngkin and Miyares liberated Virginia’s economy, nearly 200,000 more Virginians are employed than at our pre-pandemic levels. That is on top of a record $125 billion in announced capital investment.
What’s more, despite Northam’s scaremongering over government efficiency, Virginians have seen a net gain of 35,000 new jobs just this year. That is positive news for anyone rooting for Virginia families and small businesses.
While I was governor, economic development was our foremost priority, and 312,000 net new private sector jobs were created during our term. Education and law enforcement are the top two responsibilities of state government, and my administration knew that public safety was the bedrock of any revitalized economy. By abolishing parole and bringing “Truth in Sentencing” to Virginia, businesses knew they could count on Virginia’s legal system to defend their workers, customers and property while cracking down on violent criminals.
That’s why Miyares’ tough-on-criminals approach with Operation Ceasefire matters so much to the Virginia economic renaissance. If we want to get rid of crime, we need experienced leaders with a proven record of protecting victims and convicting criminals.
Public safety is a top responsibility of our government and law enforcement knows who backs the blue. Miyares’ leadership provides the foundation for Youngkin’s economic optimism. Going backwards is a dangerous choice.
Of course, it should come as no surprise when soft governors endorse soft candidates.
In fact, Democratic attorney general candidate and former Del. Jay Jones voted for and championed one of the biggest failures of the Northam era: the abolition of “Truth in Sentencing,” which allowed the early release of violent felons. Jones is running to be Virginia’s top prosecutor, yet has never prosecuted a case in court. Jones’ voted for Northam’s disastrous early release program which turned 9,638 inmates loose on our communities. An astonishing 49.8% were rearrested in the first year, including a man convicted in August 2024 of repeatedly ra**ng an 11-year old girl. Jones even refused to vote for a 60-day mandatory minimum sentence for those who repeatedly beat their wives.
While Miyares has given Virginia a backbone of steel when it comes to violent crime, Jones seems to want to return to the lawlessness and riots that defined the criminal apologists of the Northam era.
Miyares and Youngkin have given Virginia fresh air and a second chance. By contrast, Northam and Jones deserve the same chance they gave our small businesses during the pandemic — which is to say, none. To keep Virginia ascending, the choice is clear.
George Allen served as the 67th governor of Virginia, from 1994 to 1998.
