Gov. Glenn Youngkin joined Republican lieutenant governor nominee John Reid on the campaign trail in New Kent County Tuesday night. It was only the second time Reid and Youngkin have campaigned together publicly since the latter asked the former to withdraw from the race earlier this year.
The governor is now no longer asking Reid to withdraw; instead, he is telling Republicans why they should support him.
“One thing I know about John Reid… John Reid is a conservative,” Youngkin said Tuesday night. “He believes in the things that we need in order to make Virginia the best state in America, and on top of that, when those ties come out of the General Assembly, John Reid will sign the ones that we all want him to sign, and he will veto the ones we don’t want him to sign. And that’s why we want him there, because he will run that Senate.”
The controversy between the two began after The Richmonder first reported in April that Youngkin had called Reid, urging him to withdraw over a Tumblr account allegedly linked to him that featured posts of nude men.
Reid, the first openly gay statewide nominee in Virginia’s history, denied the account was his and did not withdraw from the race. The Republican statewide ticket suffered after the fact, but not because of the Tumblr account.
Gubernatorial nominee Winsome Earle-Sears largely remained silent, saying that she and Reid have their own races to run, bringing many questions to the forefront about a lack of unity on the Republican ticket.
Earle-Sears has grown more supportive of Reid but rarely mentions his campaign on the trail — a sharp contrast to 2021, when Youngkin, Earle-Sears and Attorney General Jason Miyares ran on a united ticket and held numerous joint events.
The ticket tried to show unity earlier this summer, but it seemed to backfire.
Youngkin appeared in Northern Virginia with the whole ticket and advocated for Republicans to vote for Earle-Sears, Reid and Miyares. They stood next to each other on the stage, smiling and chatting.
At that same event, however, Earle-Sears did not even mention Reid’s name and did not stand with him on the stage.
Earle-Sears’ actions in ignoring Reid were the takeaway from that night, not anything else Republicans said.
She later told conservative radio host John Fredericks that she forgot to talk about Reid that night.
She has since voiced some support for Reid but has primarily pointed to his Democratic opponent’s political positions as the reason Republicans should back him.
Reid has remained on the trail, even immediately after Youngkin, Earle-Sears and Miyares dropped out of a unity event with Reid in early May.
Reid continued with that event, filling the room with supporters and an electric atmosphere.
While he has remained resilient, he doesn’t deny the impact of the controversy.
“Thank you for sticking with me through this campaign, as you know it has been rough,” Reid said Tuesday night.
After the event, a line of New Kent Republicans waited to speak with Reid, who was smiling and taking pictures with them.