By Eric Bradner, CNN

(CNN) — Jay Jones, the Democratic nominee for Virginia attorney general, expressed his regret for the graphic and violent language directed at a colleague in text messages in his opening statement in Thursday night’s debate with Republican incumbent Jason Miyares.

“Let me be very clear: I am ashamed. I am embarrassed. And I am sorry,” Jones said. “I am sorry to Speaker Gilbert. I am sorry to his family. I am sorry to my family. And I am sorry to every single Virginian. I cannot take back what I said, but you have my word that I will always be accountable for my mistakes. And you also have my word that I will spend every waking moment fighting for you.”

The debate came less than two weeks after the attorney general’s race was turned on its head by the publication of the 2022 text messages in which Jones, then a state legislator, suggested then- House Speaker Todd Gilbert, a Republican, should be shot. He went on to say Gilbert and his wife are “breeding little fascists,” in reference to Gilbert’s young children and suggested the children should die. National Review first reported the news of Jones’ texts, which were sent to a Republican lawmaker, Carrie Coyner.

Jones’ comments happened moments after Miyares recounted the contents of those text messages, and said they reveal Jones does not have the “experience or the judgment” to be the state’s top prosecutor.

“We have seen a window to who Jay Jones is and the way he thinks of people that disagree with him,” Miyares said. “Abraham Lincoln said the character is what you do in the dark when no one is watching. But now we know what he was doing in the dark.”

Throughout the debate, Miyares kept a relentless focus on Jones’ text messages — repeatedly invoking their contents to cast doubt on whether he could prosecute crimes against children, deal with parents whose children have died and more.

“Jay, if you were really sorry, then you wouldn’t be running,” Miyares said during the debate.

Jones, meanwhile, sought to redirect the conversation to President Donald Trump, arguing that Miyares couldn’t be trusted to defend Virginians’ interests by taking on the Trump administration in court.

“It is no surprise that President Trump has endorsed Jason for this race — the only statewide elected official to receive that endorsement,” Jones said. “Threw his arm around him and said, ‘He will never let you down.’ And when he says ‘you’ he means Donald Trump, because Donald Trump has spent the last 10 years telling us that he only cares about himself.”

Early voting is already underway. Under Virginia law, there is no way for Jones to formally exit the race at this point without Democrats effectively conceding the attorney general’s office.

The Democratic nominee for governor, Abigail Spanberger, has denounced Jones’ texts — but has left his political fate up to voters. She did not repeat her previous endorsement of Jones in her recent debate with Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, but she also did not call for Jones to end his campaign.

Jones’ texts have become a national story that has dominated headlines ahead of an election in Virginia that is often seen as a barometer of the political mood a year after each presidential election. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries on Thursday said Jones “has appropriately apologized” for his texts and said his remarks have been “condemned across the board by the Democrats” in Virginia and beyond. He did not say whether Jones should stay in the race or not.

Virginia Democratic Party chairman Lamont Bagby, who is a state senator, has defended Jones.

“I’ve known Jay Jones for years, and I know his family. I know him as a man, and those texts aren’t who he is. And at this point in the commonwealth’s history, we need somebody that’s going to stand up and fight for Virginia’s health care, education and make sure that we stand up for democracy,” Bagby said.

Miyares, the son of a Cuban immigrant, could represent Republicans’ best chance of a statewide victory in Virginia this fall. He won the attorney general’s office in 2021, ousting Democratic incumbent Mark Herring — a year in which Jones lost the Democratic primary to Herring. Miyares has often waded into cultural battles over gender identity and schools — an issue that Earle-Sears has made the centerpiece of her message this year.

The debate covered a range of issues that have been focal points in Virginia’s elections — including utility costs, transgender policies, drug prices, fentanyl prosecutions and the government shutdown — which has major ramifications in Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads, where the federal government is a massive employer. But Miyares also peppered his comments with references to Jones’ texts throughout the debate.

Miyares, who was also in the Legislature at the time the texts were sent, recalled Gilbert’s wife bringing their two young children to the General Assembly, and the children running through the halls.

“This wasn’t a hypothetical. This wasn’t some figure that you know from far away. You actually know Todd. This is a flesh-and-blood, real husband. Jennifer is a real mom. These are real kids,” Miyares said. “How in the world could you ever show compassion and comfort a grieving mother that has ever lost a child to violence?”

Jones pointed to Republican figures’ own controversial comments.

“What about when Donald Trump used incendiary language to incite a riot to try to overturn an election here in this country?” Jones said, referring to the January 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol.

Jones added: “I have taken accountability for my mistakes. It’s time you take accountability, too.”

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CNN’s Eva McKend contributed to this report.