Gay-porn scandal ensnaring GOP nominee John Reid splits Virginia Republicans ahead of key election

Virginia Republicans are splintering over GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s call for the party’s lieutenant-governor nominee to step aside — after the hopeful was accused of posting gay porn on Tumblr.

Youngkin asked embattled candidate John Reid, a radio host in the Richmond area, to withdraw as the nominee upon learning of the images of naked men posted on an account using Reid’s Instagram handle last month.

Reid has denied the account is his and refused to step aside — leaving party faithful scrambling to unify about six months out from the state’s bellwether 2025 off-year election.

“That’s not my account,” Reid insisted after the scandal was unearthed by the Richmonder. “Anyone on the Internet can open accounts with the same or similar names as other people.

“I’m not going anywhere.”

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Allies of Reid have accused Youngkin and his allies of targeting the candidate because of his sexuality. Reid is Virginia’s first openly gay statewide nominee.

But Youngkin has deemed the gay-porn scandal a “distraction” that will likely hurt the party if allowed to continue.

“One of the reasons why I called John last Friday morning was because these kinds of situations, where there is just a historical recognition that social media and explicit, explicit social media content like this is a distraction,” Youngkin told reporters last week.

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“It’s a distraction for campaigns, and it’s a distraction from people paying attention to the most important issues, and here we are today talking about fentanyl and saving lives, and the distraction is present,” he said. “He and I had a very serious personal conversation.”

Several key Republicans in the state quickly hit back at the governor for being so quick to turn on Reid.

If this is how the Governor’s political operation wants to close out his term in Richmond — by tossing a grenade into the statewide Republican ticket — it’s truly a shame,” Arlington GOP Chair Matthew Hurt said in an email blast. 

Virginia gubernatorial wannabe and current Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, a Republican, refrained from calling on Reid to step aside.

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“John Reid is the Republican nominee for Lt. Governor. It is his race and his decision alone to move forward,” she said in a statement. “We all have our own race to run.”

Earle-Sears is locked in a very tough gubernatorial race against former Rep. Abigail Spanberger, the Dems’ pick in the state race. Youngkin cannot run for re-election this time around, as Virginia governors can’t serve two consecutive terms.

After days of controversy, Youngkin began striking a more conciliatory tone toward Reid and stressed that it would ultimately be the nominee’s decision about whether to stay in the race.

“We’ve got to get on with winning. This is John Reid’s decision. He is the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor,” Youngkin told reporters late last week. “He has clearly made up his mind that he’s going to stay in.

“I think the debate can stop there, ’cause that’s the answer. I have said that I will support the nominees and their ticket.”

Matt Moran, who has been a longtime top staffer for Youngkin and helmed the Spirit of Virginia PAC, denied accusations that he had been conspiring to pressure Reid out of the race.

“I’ve known John Reid for years and consider him a friend,” Moran said on X last week.

“Over the last nine days, I was actively supporting and assisting John as the Lt. Governor nominee of the Republican Party. Let me be clear, facts matter, and they will demonstrate the accusations against me are unfounded.”

Youngkin, who previously served as co-CEO of financial powerhouse The Carlyle Group, won the governor’s office in an upset 2021 election. He is the first Republican governor to win the top Virginia office since 2009.

That breakthrough has sparked presidential buzz for Youngkin and led to speculation that he could be a contender in the 2028 elections.

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Meanwhile, he is hoping to preserve GOP gains in the state, which has generally hewed blue in the past two decades.

But Republicans are facing significant headwinds in Virginia heading into the off-year election. The state, alongside New Jersey, is generally seen as a barometer of the national mood that could foreshadow what will happen in the 2026 midterms.

Nestled next to Washington, DC, Virginia has been disproportionately battered by job cuts the Trump administration has made through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).

Virginia is home to about 145,000 federal workers, at least a fifth of whom reside just across the Potomac River from DC. To counter this, Youngkin has launched a website, virginiahasjobs.com, as well as a resource package for those unemployed thanks to the cuts.

The GOP is fearing that voter backlash against the Trump administration could be a boon for Virginia Democrats come November.