Ex-Arlington Prosecutor Forges Deeper Ties With Virginia's GOP

ARLINGTON, VA — Theo Stamos, the former Democratic Commonwealth’s Attorney for Arlington, was named Wednesday as a deputy attorney general in the office of Jason Miyares, Virginia’s Republican attorney general.

The pro-death penalty commonwealth’s attorney lost her re-election bid in the 2019 Democratic primary to Parisa Dehghani-Tafti, a reform prosecutor candidate who easily won re-election to a second term as Arlington commonwealth’s attorney in November.

After losing to Dehghani-Taft in the 2019 Democratic primary, Stamos worked in the Trump and Biden administration’s Department of Justice.

Stamos then joined Miyares’ office in January 2022 to work on investigations in Loudoun County, the place where Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin, Miyares and conservative activists chose to turn into ground zero for fighting the teaching of critical race theory, an academic theory that has never been taught in Virginia schools, and promoting “parental rights.”

In one of her cases against a former top Loudoun County Public Schools official, Stamos was accused of “prosecutorial misconduct.”

In Miyares’ office, Stamos will become deputy attorney general for criminal justice and public safety.

“Most recently, Theo spearheaded the investigation into the Virginia Parole Board and the Loudoun County School Board, which resulted in the termination of the previous superintendent and a successful conviction for retaliatory firing,” Miyares said in a statement Wednesday.

Earlier this year, during the heated Democratic primary for commonwealth’s attorney in Arlington, critics of Democratic candidate Josh Katcher cited evidence of his appealing to conservative or anti-reform people, including a supportive email from Stamos.

Stamos served as commonwealth’s attorney for Arlington from 2012 to 2019.