Virginia Republicans reel from party infighting over nominee for lieutenant governor

Virginia Republicans are reeling from an intraparty fight over a disputed social media account that has pitted lieutenant governor nominee John Reid against Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s political operation, imperiling the party’s chances of holding on to power in this year’s general election. The controversy comes as Republicans look to buck historic trends that favor the party out of power in Washington to hold on to the top three statewide offices — governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general — and make gains in the House of Delegates, where all 100 seats are up for reelection in November and where Democrats hold a narrow majority. The upcoming election will also test the governor’s political power — despite his 2021 win and continued popularity, the party lost the lower chamber in 2023, derailing Youngkin’s goals of advancing conservative priorities such as restricting abortion rights. At a time when the party should be unifying, it is instead contending with a mess that has highlighted a rift between evangelicals and other conservatives. The disagreement erupted late last month following reports that Youngkin asked Reid — the first out gay statewide nominee in Virginia — to leave the race after GOP researchers discovered a since-deleted Tumblr account with a username Reid has used on other social media sites. The account, which Reid has denied he created, reposted nude and sexually explicit photos of men in posts archived as far back as 2014, according to a CNN review of the website’s archives captured by the Wayback Machine. Reid, in an April 25 video defending himself, called the account “a total fabricated internet lie” and noted that “anyone on the internet can open accounts with the same or similar names as other people.” The candidate refused to drop out and launched a legal campaign against a top political adviser to Youngkin. Republicans, including the state GOP, are pushing the party to rally around the ticket and to focus on Democrats. “This was a bad week in April,” said Virginia Republican Party Chair Mark Peake. “I think things will smooth out a lot in the next month, and then as we head into the fall, you’re going to see us going full bore after the Democrats.” Within days, Youngkin and Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, the party’s gubernatorial nominee, said it is Reid’s decision whether to stay in the race. The governor, who is barred under the state constitution from serving a consecutive term, told reporters Friday that Reid is the nominee and that he “has clearly made up his mind that he’s going to stay in.” Asked whether he would campaign with Reid later this year, the governor suggested he would. “I have said that I will support the nominees and their ticket, and at the end of the day, Republicans need to win,” Youngkin said. Reid’s decision Reid, a conservative radio host and past aide to former US Sen. George Allen of Virginia, became the nominee by default last month after the only other candidate, Fairfax County Supervisor Pat Herrity, dropped out to recover from heart surgery. Several Republican leaders, including Youngkin, welcomed Reid to the ticket. But days later, local outlet The Richmonder reported that Youngkin had asked Reid to drop out after learning of the account. In a five-minute video on social media addressing the reports, Reid said he had faced repeated calls behind the scenes to drop out over photos of him attending a drag show and “because, supposedly, Christian voters would never support me and it was inevitable that I would destroy the ticket and destroy Virginia.” Reid confirmed that Youngkin asked him to decline the nomination after researchers found the contested social media account. “What I didn’t expect was the governor I have always supported to call and demand my resignation without even showing me the supposed evidence or offering me a chance to respond,” Reid said in the April 25 video. “I did not accept that, and I deeply resent it.” Much of Reid’s ire has been directed toward Matt Moran, who until last week was the executive director of Youngkin’s PAC, Spirit of Virginia. A lawyer for Reid sent Moran a cease-and-desist letter accusing him of making “false and defamatory” comments about the lieutenant governor nominee by continuing to tie him to the explicit social media account. The letter also accused Moran of threatening to release additional information if Reid did not drop out. Moran pushed back on the letter’s accusations in an affidavit posted to social media, saying he supported Reid and was attempting to give him sound advice. “I never attacked John and did not threaten or coerce him,” Moran said in the affidavit. “I communicated what I truly believed was in his best interests in my judgment.” Moran was replaced in his role with Youngkin’s PAC by Becca Glover, a former deputy chief of staff to the governor. A spokesperson for Spirit of Virginia referred to the governor’s public comments. A Virginia blowout? At the root of the pushback against Reid has been concerns from some Republicans that evangelical voters will not support him because of his sexual orientation. In 2020, US Rep. Denver Riggleman lost the GOP nomination in the race to hold his Virginia seat after he officiated a same-sex wedding. Reid allies, however, pointed to the warm reception he received during campaign events in southwest Virginia one day after news broke that the governor asked him to drop out. At one appearance, Rep. Morgan Griffith, who represents part of the region, told GOP activists that he would “always support our nominee.” “There’s no question that a certain percent of our evangelical voters have concerns about the fact that John Reid is gay,” said Peake, the state Republican Party chairman. “I think that as we get closer to voting in November … our voters will coalesce behind our candidates.” John Fredericks, a conservative radio host and former co-chair of Donald Trump’s 2016 and 2020 campaigns in Virginia, said that he supported Reid’s campaign and did not agree with voters who don’t approve of Reid’s sexual orientation. However, he also supported Youngkin’s call for him to step down and worried Reid wouldn’t be able to win over some of the evangelicals in the state’s more conservative southwest region. “Republicans, as a result of this debacle, they’re likely going to get blown out and lose multiple seats in the House,” Fredericks said. He called on Earle-Sears to take a stronger stance on Reid’s place on the ticket. The gubernatorial nominee, he said, should either say she stands by Reid and disagrees with the governor or say he should exit the race. Earle-Sears said in social media post that the decision to stay in the race is Reid’s and that candidates “all have our own race to run.” “This is one of these things you can’t go halfway,” Fredericks said. “You either double down or double out. She did neither.” The stakes are high this year for Virginia Republicans, who were facing an uphill climb under the best of circumstances. Virginia Democrats have already started blasting Earle-Sears and Republicans in the House of Delegates over the impact of cuts to the federal workforce on the state. Allen, the former Virginia governor and senator who reaffirmed his support for Reid after the social media account allegations, has argued Republicans need to focus on the issues that will define the election — from the state’s right-to-work law to energy policies — if they hope to win. He pointed to Youngkin’s 2021 victory, fueled by the parental rights movement and a post-2020 election wave that favored the GOP, as a sign of how much has to go right for the party to win in a state former Vice President Kamala Harris carried by nearly 6 points. “With all of that — a great candidate, great message, plenty of money to get the message out, the political wins to your back — all of that, and he won by 1.9% of the vote,” Allen said of Youngkin. “That’s how hard it is for a Republican to win statewide in Virginia … and so you’ve got to try to get your team unified on a positive motivating message.” Some of Reid’s most prominent supporters are hoping the fissures within the party are being repaired. “Politics is, by its nature, divisive,” said former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore. “Sometimes people get hurt feelings and they don’t support the ticket, but the goal is to try to get as much [party unity] as you can.” CNN’s Em Steck contributed to this report.