by James A. Bacon

Having Governor Glenn Youngkin tell him to drop out of the race for lieutenant governor might have been the best thing that happened to John Reid’s election campaign. The former Richmond talk-radio host is generating more headlines and bigger crowds than ever.

People don’t normally get worked up over the race for lieutenant governor, a statewide position that has far less visibility and power than governor and attorney general. Most voters don’t even know who the candidates are.

That’s no longer an issue for Reid who, though he was well known in the Richmond area, faced a major challenge with an underfunded campaign in introducing himself to voters across the state. In stark contrast to the leftist-perpetuated stereotype of Republicans as homophobes, it turns out that most GOP activists don’t care that Reid is gay. They may not be wild about the online expression of Reid’s gay lifestyle — attending drag shows, posting images of hunky nude male models on a five-year-old social media account (which he denies doing) — but they see him as a fighter for every other issue important to conservatives.

Three weeks ago, Reid couldn’t beg, borrow or steal publicity from the legacy media. Now he’s getting more attention than he ever imagined. Surprisingly little of that attention is negative, and his larger message is getting through.

“We’ve seen it over and over: the politics of personal destruction. They’ve done it to President Trump every day of the last decade, since he came down that escalator,” Reid said at a Henrico County rally yesterday, reports the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

“The Richmond swamp doesn’t like it when they encounter a different type of person who they can’t control,” Reid said, drawing boisterous cheers. “That’s what’s happened here. They have now tried coming after me, threatening me, pressuring me with every trick in the book. And I want to thank you for standing with me – standing with me against the corrupt political machine that’s been hindering Virginia’s success for years.”

“The truth is, this isn’t just about me anymore,” said Reid, a longtime conservative radio host in Richmond. “It’s about us … this is bigger than who’s White or Black, who’s old or young, who’s evangelically strict or not, who’s married or single, who’s gay or straight,” Reid said.

“This is about the good men and women of Virginia standing up and saying, ‘no more.’ No more politics of hate, no more politics of personal destruction, no more politics of dirty tricks, no more politics of failure. It is time for us to come together as a party, because the real battle is coming in November. Too much is at stake.”

This shouldn’t be happening, according to the conventional wisdom.

On April 23, the Virginia Christian Alliance published an article by the Rev. Joshua Daniel Pratt, an evangelical Christian activist in Lynchburg, warning that “John Reid Could Tank the GOP Ticket and Destroy Virginia.”

“For many socially conservative Virginians, particularly evangelicals who hold firm to biblical standards of sexuality and marriage, Reid’s lifestyle and public witness are not just controversial—they are disqualifying,” states an article summary. “With his candidacy stirring moral outrage and disillusionment among core GOP voters, Reid’s presence on the ticket may not only fracture party unity but also put the GOP ticket in jeopardy statewide.”

Pratt cited extensive polling data showing that liberal stances on gay rights issues would alienate a significant percentage of conservative Christian voters.

“Analysts warn that 10–15% of evangelical conservatives may stay home in November if Reid tops or flanks the ticket,” Pratt wrote. “That turnout dip could have devastating consequences—not just for Reid, but for down-ballot candidates in competitive House of Delegates districts.”

It is unrealistic to expect Republicans to make up that loss by winning over independent voters, Pratt argued. “While urban independents might shrug at Reid’s sexuality, rural swing voters (especially along I-81 and Southside) are more ambivalent. A 2019 AP-NORC poll found 20–30% of rural independents held reservations about LGBTQ+ candidates.”

No doubt such practical political calculations were prominent in Governor Glenn Youngkin’s thinking when he told Reid to drop out of the race.

But the polls asked abstract questions. You never know how voters will respond until presented with real-life personalities in real-life circumstances. Consider Donald Trump, whose marital infidelities and boorish behavior toward women trashed conservative Christian values. Evangelicals voted for him anyway. It looks like Virginia GOP voters have decided they’re willing to overlook whatever reservations they have about Reid’s sexual orientation. And if he posted a bunch of photos on personal accounts online, well, that’s his personal business.

One thing for sure: however liberal he might be on a subset of LGBQT issues, Reid is still more conservative than most Democrats. He abhors trans men competing in women’s sports. He criticizes hormonal treatment and surgeries for trans youth. He says young children should not be exposed to drag queen storybook hours. He opposes the indoctrination of school children on matters of sex, sexuality, and gender.

Consider the alternatives: Ghazala Hashmi, Aaron Rouse, and Levar Stoney, who are vying for the Democratic Party LG nomination. Would conservative evangelical Christians stay home on election day if any one of them runs against Reid? They would be foolhardy to do so.

Governor Youngkin didn’t get it, but Reid’s growing crowd sizes make it increasingly apparent that most Republican voters do.