Source: Politics<\/p>\n
The blast radius from the controversy surrounding Virginia\u2019s Republican lieutenant governor candidate expanded this week, when a top political aide to Gov. Glenn Youngkin stepped down from his post.His departure was the latest event in a week of turmoil that has pitted Republican leaders in the state against the GOP\u2019s grassroots, upending a party that was already confronting a difficult election year.<\/p>\n
The conflict centers on the political future of lieutenant governor candidate John Reid, who resisted a week of pressure from some Virginia Republican Party leaders to step aside over allegations that he maintained a social media account<\/a> with sexually explicit images of men. Reid, the first openly gay candidate for statewide office in Virginia, denied that he was connected to the photos, and has argued that efforts to remove him from the Republican ticket are rooted in discrimination against his sexual orientation.<\/p>\n When Republican Party leaders in Virginia became aware of the photos, some tried to force Reid out of the race. Youngkin asked Reid<\/a> to drop out last week, confirmed by POLITICO. But the attempts to oust him backfired. Matt Moran, who ran Youngkin\u2019s political operation<\/a>, stepped aside as he was accused of pressuring Reid to remove himself from the GOP ticket \u2014 something Moran has denied publicly<\/a>.<\/p>\n Moran did not respond to a request for comment. A representative for Youngkin pointed to comments<\/a> from the governor on Friday where he declined to say if he would campaign on behalf of Reid, but said he will \u201csupport the nominees and their ticket. And at the end of the day, Republicans need to win. And that’s the bottom line.\u201d<\/p>\n The fallout has created a rift within the state party as it faces an uphill battle in November. President Donald Trump and tech billionaire Elon Musk’s war on the federal workforce has hit hard in a state where more than 150,000 federal employees live. The controversy, Republicans conceded, could tarnish Youngkin\u2019s efforts to position himself as a potential 2028 presidential candidate, and it is widely viewed as a misstep.<\/p>\n \u201cIf John Reid is conservative and he’s being trashed by his own political party, you need to go out there and support him,\u201d said Scott Pio, who chairs the Loudoun County GOP, which has started selling<\/a> \u201cIn John Reid We Trust\u201d mugs, with proceedings going toward Reid\u2019s campaign. \u201cYou need to lean in and support the guy instead of run away from him.\u201d<\/p>\n One Virginia Republican operative, who like others in this article was granted anonymity to speak freely, shrugged off the photos as \u201cjust a bunch of penises,\u201d while another said of the episode, \u201cThis is insane.\u201d<\/p>\n The second operative said the day before Moran\u2019s departure became public, \u201cThe only winners here are Democrats and then a bunch of losers who are Republicans and starting with the governor and going on down to the rest of the ticket.\u201d<\/p>\n Yet GOP consultant Rory Cooper dismissed the drama as a \u201cpurely Virginia thing\u201d that has mainly captured the attention of political insiders, and likely won\u2019t have any impact on an election six months away. <\/p>\n \u201cCandidate choice matters, the party being united matters, and I think they\u2019ll get this stuff behind them because they really have no choice,\u201d Cooper said. \u201cA fractured party is not going to be able to beat a moderate Democrat who has high favorables going into the general, and so they’ll figure it out.\u201d<\/p>\n That message of unity appears to be echoed by Reid\u2019s campaign.<\/p>\n “John is proud to be the Republican nominee and he looks forward to campaigning across the state over the coming months,” Reid’s campaign said in a statement. “He has been very clear that he welcomes the support of the governor, full ticket, and all Virginians who are committed to unity around our ticket and a positive future for our home.”<\/p>\n Fear that the controversy could weaken the GOP ticket is not limited to strategists inside the GOP. Winsome Earle-Sears, the presumptive GOP gubernatorial nominee, in a public statement Tuesday quoted from the Book of Matthew and called the focus on Reid a distraction from what she cast as a mission of uniting Virginians. \u201cIt is his race and his decision alone to move forward,\u201d she said. Earle-Sears did not respond to questions.<\/p>\n Earle-Sears, who authored a Christian self-help book, holds socially conservative beliefs. In 2024, when fulfilling her duties as lieutenant governor to sign legislation, she hand wrote her personal objections<\/a> to a bill that prohibits officials from denying marriage licenses based on sex, gender or race.<\/p>\n Reid held a solo rally in Henrico, Virginia, on Wednesday evening, after plans for Youngkin and the entire GOP ticket to appear together were scrapped. Facing a large crowd, Reid railed against the \u201cRichmond swamp\u201d that \u201cdoes not like it when they encounter a different type of person who they can’t control.”<\/p>\n The fact that Reid is drawing fervent grassroots support in the GOP represents another marker in the ongoing populist transformation of a party that, for decades, made social conservatism and, in particular, opposition to same-sex marriage, a key part of its platform. This shift, embodied by the election of Trump, a thrice-married New York reality television star, has led to Republican primary voters focusing more on \u201cfighting\u201d than on \u201cfamily values.\u201d<\/p>\n The attempt to oust Reid, and the turmoil that followed, may in part be because the operative class has not quite caught up to the grassroots on this issue. A third Republican operative familiar with the situation said there was the sense that some Virginia Republicans were panicked that Reid\u2019s sexual orientation would be an electoral drag and then used the social media account to work backwards and justify dropping him from the ticket.<\/p>\n U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith, a Republican, said that having a diverse GOP ticket \u2014 a Black woman, an openly gay man as well Attorney General Jason Miyares, the son of a Cuban refugee \u2014 should help Republicans\u2019 odds in November. \u201cThat’s a good, feel good story, no matter what,\u201d he said, referring to the candidates’ backgrounds. \u201cAnd that story should override, assuming that those pictures aren’t a whole lot worse than it was depicted.\u201d<\/p>\n On Thursday morning, Reid guest-hosted a four-hour conservative radio show, and a series of callers spent their morning bashing Youngkin and his allies. Reid, who said he had secured the guest spot before he was asked to leave the race, was filling in for host John Fredericks, who described Reid as “a friend.”<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cEveryone who is trying to come out against you really learned a lesson last night of what not to do,\u201d said a Virginia caller named Casey. Another caller went straight after Youngkin, calling the governor \u201cnothing more than a RINO.\u201d<\/p>\n The backlash doesn’t bode well for Youngkin, who is term-limited in the state and looking for his next opportunity. How he navigates this situation with his own state party could have major implications for his political future.<\/p>\n Reid\u2019s only primary opponent, longtime Fairfax County Supervisor Pat Herrity, dropped out of the race late last month due to health concerns, locking in Reid as the nominee.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you were that worried about (me being gay), why didn\u2019t you run a bunch of other people?\u201d Reid said on the radio show Thursday morning.<\/p>\n But staying on the ticket is one thing. Winning in November is another.<\/p>\n Democratic U.S. Rep. Suhas Subramanyam, who represents part of Northern Virginia, said it doesn\u2019t matter who the GOP nominates for lieutenant governor, because the Trump administration\u2019s overhaul of the federal government has created a tough environment for down-ballot Republicans in a state where many federal employees live.<\/p>\n \u201cVirginians are mad right now,\u201d Subramanyam said. \u201cWhoever the Republican nominee is in November is going to pay a price for what’s going on in D.C. right now.\u201d<\/p>\n Ally Mutnick contributed reporting.<\/p>\n