Jason Miyares makes history as Virginia's first Latino attorney general

Jason Miyares, the son of Cuban immigrants, has made history.

Miyares, a Republican, has reportedly defeated two-term Democratic incumbent Mark Herring to become the next Attorney General of Virginia. Herring admitted his defeat. 

A former prosecutor who has represented Virginia Beach in the State House of Delegates since 2016, Miyares is the first Latino to serve Virginia in this role. He is also the first child of an immigrant to be Attorney General of Virginia.

"In some ways, my story begins in Havana, Cuba, when a scared 19-year-old girl got on an airplane literally penniless and homeless, not knowing where her next meal was going to come from. And that was my mother," Miyares told WJLA, the ABC affiliate in Washington. D.C. "So I grew up every day to have such appreciation that I could live in this amazing country."

Miyares, whose family fled Cuba in 1965, became the first Cuban American elected to Virginia’s General Assembly when he defeated Democrat Bill DeSteph in 2015.

In the 2016 Republican presidential primaries, Miyares endorsed Marco Rubio and was his Virginia campaign co-chairman.

During the Cuban thaw in 2016, Miyares was critical of Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s outreach to the country.

"During his trip to Cuba four years ago, Governor McAuliffe had every opportunity to meet with the dissidents of this failed socialist dictatorship and he refused," Miyares said in a statement. "It was a test of history, and he failed to champion the principles of freedom and democracy that every Virginian cherishes."

McAuliffe, coincidentally, lost Virginia's gubernatorial race to Republican challenger Glenn Youngkin on Tuesday.

Miyares, meanwhile, has made clear where he stands on a Texas law banning abortion after six weeks.

"I would say I'm pro-life with exceptions, including rape, incest, and threat to the mother's life," Miyares told WJLA. "I would not have voted for the Texas bill, first of all it had no exceptions whatsoever. And second, it created this new private cause of action that I thought was unworkable, and I think it's going to be struck down."

Born in Greensboro, North Carolina, Miyares, 45, completed his academic career in Virginia, graduating from James Madison University before earning a law degree from the College of William of Mary. He has three daughters with his wife Page Atkinson Miyares. 

As the child of immigrants, Miyares believes he brings a unique perspective to Virginia and the U.S.

"If your family came here seeking hope and opportunity, there's a really good chance your family is a lot like my family,” Miyares told WJLA.