John Reid accused Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s team of extorting him as the Virginia governor pushes for Reid to step down as the Republican nominee for the lieutenant governor’s race.
The accusations come as Reid, a conservative radio host from the Richmond area, continues to defend himself against allegations that surfaced last week claiming a social media account with the same name that Reid uses shared pornographic content.
The allegations prompted Youngkin to call for Reid to exit the race. Reid declined, saying it was not his social media account and denying publicly performing or sharing anything pornographic.
In a video posted on social media Sunday, Reid said he had hoped the Republican ticket would be unified and that he could put the “bigotry and ugliness” of last week behind him. However, he said representatives of his campaign have been repeatedly told by the leader of Youngkin’s political organization that the attacks would continue unless he drops out of the race.
“They were told that if I dropped out of the race, they would purchase the opposition research and the lies and threats against me would suddenly stop. This is extortion, and it is illegal in Virginia. And I am more outraged now. I have engaged legal counsel to pursue all options against these people,” he said.
Reid is the state’s first openly gay candidate from either party for statewide office and previously said his sexual orientation is the reason he’s being targeted.
“The insiders in Virginia politics made a big miscalculation if they thought that I would bow down to anyone or run away scared,” Reid said. “I’m a conservative Trump supporter, and I’m gay, and everybody knows it, because I’ve told you in person and in the media for decades.”
Reid became the party’s candidate for lieutenant governor when Fairfax County supervisor Pat Herrity dropped out for health reasons.
“I am sickened and outraged at the weeks of veiled accusations and attacks on my family, and I’m not going to continue to answer a never-ending parade of questions and false accusations from people who we now know are solely motivated to stage a coup against a gay man whom they didn’t want to be their nominee but didn’t have the guts to run against,” Reid said.
WTOP has reached out to Youngkin’s office for comment on the accusations.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
© 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
