Virginia Republicans pick radio host to run alongside Winsome Sears in race to replace Youngkin

Conservative Richmond radio host John Reid will be the Republican nominee for Virginia's lieutenant governorship, after running unopposed in Tuesday's statewide primary election.

Reid was the only man left after Fairfax County Supervisor Pat Herrity – the rare Republican officeholder in the vote-rich but heavily Democratic Washington, D.C. metro -- bowed out of the contest last month citing health reasons.

Reid has been a well-known Republican voice in central Virginia, previously serving on the Henrico County Republican Committee, as a delegate to the RNC in 2024 and as a top staffer to former Sen. George Allen, R-Va.

Reid will join current Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears on the Republican ticket this fall, while Attorney General Jason Miyares joins them too in running for re-election.

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Reid has centered his campaign on a unity message to "grow" the GOP in a state where the political divide is numerically narrow, but marked in that Democrats are often the favored line in statewide elections.

The first point of his campaign message on his website centered around education versus "indoctrination."

"His focus is on ensuring that our educational system imparts knowledge and critical thinking skills, not political bias, preparing students for success in a diverse world instead of creating radical activists," read a line on his website.

On the hot topic of immigration, Reid’s campaign said the candidate is "dedicated to enforcing immigration laws, not allowing localities to ignore them."

His campaign also objected to "obliterating" U.S. heritage by conserving landmarks.

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Reid’s campaign did run into a short-lived controversy when the former pundit – the first openly gay man to run statewide in Virginia – was subjected to lewd photos of himself being posted online. Reid denied any connection with the Tumblr account in question, but the controversy led some Republicans to briefly call for him to drop out.

Reid, Earle-Sears and several top Virginia Republicans converged on Richmond Tuesday night to celebrate the primary winners across the board, including in the General Assembly’s lower chamber.

Democrats currently hold a two-seat majority in the 51-49 Virginia House of Delegates, where Republicans hope to make the narrow gains necessary to take control in November.

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Republicans face a tough road in that respect, and are defending several seats, particularly along the Richmond-Petersburg Turnpike corridor that were won by former President Joe Biden, former Vice President Kamala Harris – or both.

One such member is Del. Kim Taylor, R-Petersburg, who flipped a "Biden+12" district in 2023 in what is the commonwealth’s most-Democratic municipality per-capita.

Dels. David Owen, R-Goochland, Carrie Coyner, R-Hopewell, and Amanda Batten, R-Williamsburg, all hold seats in Democrat-friendly territory.

Miyares is running unopposed in Tuesday’s attorney general primary, and Gov. Glenn Youngkin is term-limited.