Mayor Pete endorses Levar Stoney in LG race
Civil rights leader, judge and former state delegate Jerrauld Jones has passed away.
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The rundown
The family of former state delegate and former judge Jerrauld Jones announced Saturday that he passed away at the age of 70.
Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is endorsing former Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney in the Democratic primary for lieutenant governor.
Response to Kilgore being chosen to lead House Republican caucus.
Civil rights leader, judge and former state delegate Jerrauld Jones has passed away
The family of former state delegate and former judge Jerrauld Jones announced Saturday that he passed away at the age of 70.
Jones was the son of pioneering civil rights attorney Hilary H. Jones, Sr. He was one of the first African-American students to integrate Ingleside Elementary School in 1961 and later the Virginia Episcopal School in Lynchburg in 1967.
After earning his J.D. from Washington and Lee University School of Law in 1980, he became the first African-American law clerk to the Supreme Court of Virginia.
He served as a Democratic member of the Virginia House of Delegates from 1988 to 2002, representing Norfolk's 89th District and served as the long-time chair of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus. In 2002, he was appointed by Governor Mark Warner as Director of the Department of Juvenile Justice, overseeing the state's juvenile detention system. In 2005, he was appointed to the Norfolk Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court, and in 2008, Governor Tim Kaine elevated him to the Norfolk Circuit Court, where he was elected to a full eight-year term in 2009 and re-elected in 2017.
He was also a supporter of this newsletter, getting a special shoutout in February for having the most referrals.
He is survived by his wife, The Honorable Lyn Simmons, who serves on the Norfolk Juvenile and Domestic Relations District Court, their son, Jay Jones, a former member of the Virginia House of Delegates, and his wife, Mavis, and two grandsons, Charles and Zachary.
“His legacy of service, integrity, and dedication to justice will continue to inspire all who knew him,” the Jones family wrote in a press release Saturday night.