The Republican candidate for lieutenant governor of Virginia is accusing the political aides of Governor Glenn Youngkin of extortion and claiming that they are attempting to pressure him into withdrawing from the race.
The first out gay man to run statewide for either the Democratic or Republican party is John Reid.
He revealed details of what he claimed were Youngkin’s attempts to persuade him to withdraw from the race in two films that he made public online. Reid, a former radio talk show host from Richmond who has been with his partner for eight years, is still favored by many Republicans.
A week earlier, Pat Herrity, a member of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and the front-runner, abruptly resigned due to health concerns, making Reid the sole contender for lieutenant governor.
Prior to that, Reid said that two individuals he had “known for several years” and “a local religious activist” had threatened him with what they said were sexually explicit images he had uploaded to a Tumblr account. Reid claims that the account was made up and that the pictures are not his.
Reid alleged that Youngkin then called and asked him to resign. He claimed that after he declined, his assistants were contacted once again.
“They were told if I dropped out of the race, they would purchase the opposition research and the lies and threat against me would suddenly stop. This is extortion, and it is illegal in Virginia,” Reid stated on video. “I am more outraged now.”
Reid stated that he has no plans to leave school.
In the defiant ending of a video he uploaded on the internet on Sunday, he declared, “I’m tougher than any of my detractors, and I’m not going anywhere.”
Youngkin justified his call to Reid on Tuesday, claiming that worries about explicit images divert attention from important subjects.
“Explicit social media content like this is a distraction.” At a fentanyl awareness event, he stated, “It’s a distraction for campaigns, and it’s a distraction from people paying attention to the most important issues.”
Reid has the freedom to decide whether or not to stay in the race, according to Youngkin.
“The decision is John’s and up to John,” he stated.
The Republican candidate for governor, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, also mentioned deviance from the main concerns and left it up to Reid to decide whether to continue his campaign or not.
“President Lincoln said, ‘A house divided against itself cannot stand.’ Those biblical words from Matthew 12:25 embody the positive mission of our campaign — to unite and inspire Virginians of all backgrounds. This week, focus on the lieutenant governor nominee distracted from that mission and cannot continue. John Reid is the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor. It is his race, and his decision alone to move forward. We all have our own race to run,” she stated on Tuesday.
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“Results, unity, and winning in November” should be the main priorities, Earle-Sears urged.
‘The governor has brought this on the party’
Other Republicans expressed their displeasure with the events they are witnessing.
Over the weekend, Arlington County Republican Committee head Matthew Hurtt reached out to his members to see how they were responding.
“More than two-thirds of my members who responded said we don’t think John should drop out, and an even higher percentage of respondents said they would still vote for John in November as the Republican nominee,” he stated.
Hurtt attributed the problem to the governor’s political action team.
Republicans were already up against the odds in November, and this just makes things worse, according to political analyst Bob Holsworth, a partner at the public policy consulting firm DecideSmart.
Wednesday’s scheduled unification event featuring Youngkin and the three statewide contenders was called off. On Monday night, there was a demonstration in Sterling for Reid.
