Jason Miyares, the Attorney General of Virginia, spent the morning of Friday, Nov. 8 speaking to students in political science professor Rich Meagher’s State and Local Government class. In a wide-ranging conversation, Miyares spoke about his role within the state government, his background and political career, and advice for students as they start their own professional journeys.

Miyares was the latest in a series of speakers for the class that included Chesterfield County Commonwealth’s Attorney Erin Bumgarner Barr ’06, ABC 8News WRIC Capitol Connections reporter Tyler Englander, and Cal Whitehead ’96 of Commonwealth Strategies Group.

“It’s not that we should write off the national level, but at the state level, not only are there important policies passed and important work being done, but the public officials are much more accessible,” Meagher explained.

Miyares began by telling the students about his background as the son of a Cuban immigrant, a lawyer in both government and private practice, and a member of the Virginia House of Delegates for six years before becoming the first candidate to defeat an incumbent Attorney General in Virginia since 1885.

“I think that it was really great to hear someone who is very passionate for Virginia and is very open about how he got to his position,” said Sydney Waldrop ’26.

Miyares described his philosophy in leading the office that represents the legal interests of the people of Virginia, saying “no matter what position you’re in, whether you’re a prosecutor of a major crimes unit, whether you’re in consumer protection, whether you’re in civil rights, I want your mindset to be that we’re the people’s protector.”

The Virginia Beach native also stressed the importance of collaboration in his role. Sometimes that’s with local Commonwealth’s Attorney’s offices across the state, providing resources for complex cases, and other times it’s with attorneys from his own office embedded within state agencies.

“I was able to learn about how his life experiences shaped the job that he does now and the work that he does in Virginia,” said Amber Bellamy ’26.

Miyares also shared poignant advice for the gathered students, recalling the story of when he was an intern and a deputy solicitor general returned a memo he wrote marked up in red ink.

“The only way to learn in life is to make mistakes and take constructive criticism well,” Miyares said.

“Seek the counsel of those who have been there before you,” Miyares added. “I don’t care if it’s medicine, law, business, when you do that, you know what happens? That person feels invested in you.”

Miyares pointed to an example of this hard work and perseverance from an RMC alumnus on his own staff: Senior Director of Outreach Andrew Teixeira ’21, who helped arrange the class visit with his boss for his former professor. 

“He’s one of my most senior aides now, and it all started because he took advantage of an internship at the General Assembly,” Miyares said. “He started off as my driver…Nobody’s going to trust you for the big things unless you can prove that you can be trusted with the small things. Andrew has always been trusted with more and more responsibility, and he’s handled it with incredible professionalism and execution.”