Virginia Republicans are at war with each other. Here's how we got here.

Yahoo

03-05-2025

Matt Moran, a top political advisor to Gov. Glenn Youngkin, stepped away from his role at the governor's PAC, Spirit of Virginia, this week, Youngkin confirmed Friday.
'He understood that with all of this going on, it was really hard for him to dedicate 100% of his focus to the really important work going on in Spirit of Virginia,' Youngkin said of the controversy within the Republican Party over John Reid's candidacy for lieutenant governor.
The governor said Becca Glover, who previously served as deputy chief of staff in his administration, would replace Moran as executive director of the PAC.
It was the latest aftershock after the quake that fractured the Virginia Republican party last week. Here's a look at how we got here:
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Pat Herrity drops out of the race for lieutenant governor, citing health concerns. That means the GOP no longer needs to hold a primary for the position because Reid, a conservative talk radio host, is the only other candidate. As such, he automatically became the Republican nominee. Reid is the first openly gay candidate to run for statewide office in Virginia. The Republican candidate for governor, current Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, posts her congratulations on social media.
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Moran begins conducting vulnerability research into Reid through an outside group, according to his sworn affidavit.
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According to the affidavit, Moran received a written summary of the study on the morning of April 25. It included a Tumblr account bearing the same username Reid uses on other social media. The Tumblr account had reposts of images of men in various states of undress, 'which would paint John in a negative light and impact the viability of his candidacy regardless of its veracity.' Moran said he informed Reid of the findings soon after.
By that Friday afternoon, The Richmonder reported that Youngkin had called Reid and asked him to withdraw as the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor, citing the photos, none of which contained Reid. The Tumblr page was removed shortly thereafter. Later the same day, Reid posted a five-minute video, where he said he will stay in the race and accused Republicans of attacking him because of his sexuality.
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Moran met with Reid's long-term partner, Alonzo Mable; his campaign manager, Noah Jennings; and his friend, Virginia Beach attorney Tim Anderson. Moran categorized this meeting as communicating what he 'truly believed was in (Reid's) best interest in my judgment.'
But later that day, Reid posted on X a video accusing members of the governor's PAC of extortion and threatened legal action. He said that the campaign communicated that if he dropped out of the race, the report findings would go away.
'These guys are openly trying to extort me to make me quit!' he wrote at the time. 'I won't stand for it!'
In an audio recording from that meeting, first reported by The Virginia Mercury, Moran can be heard referencing how the report findings could get out.
'If he stays in the race, it is going to continue,' Moran said. 'That hurts our candidates up and down the ticket. Him getting out of the race is the only way it stops.'
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Youngkin canceled an event scheduled for Wednesday featuring the Republican statewide ticket, though Reid said he would go forward with the rally alone.
Later the same day, Reid's attorney sent a cease and desist letter to Moran, demanding that he retract what it categorized as defamatory and malicious statements. The letter also accused Moran of releasing the reports about the Tumblr account to the media.
Youngkin and Earle-Sears spoke for the first time on the controversy and said it was up to Reid whether he continues the race.
'This week, focus on the lieutenant governor nominee distracted from that mission and cannot continue,' Earle-Sears said in a statement. 'John Reid is the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor. It is his race, and his decision alone to move forward. We all have our own race to run.'
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Moran launched a legal attack of his own, publishing the aforementioned affidavit and a letter from his lawyer to social media. The letter reiterated that Moran never attempted to 'extort, coerce or pressure Mr. Reid.'
Two hours later, Reid held a rally outside Richmond, where hundreds of supporters gathered. Reid said he will be a unifying candidate, but he accused the 'Richmond swamp' of holding back Virginia and targeting his campaign.
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The Virginia Mercury published a story featuring the audio of Sunday's meeting. Moran posted on X that the audio corroborates his version of events. He later posted a statement from his lawyer.
'For a full understanding of the meeting, one should have the full recording,' the statement read. 'But even the selective couple of minutes is consistent entirely with Matt's statement in his affidavit that he was giving sound political advice to a candidate as to what was in his best interest and that of his party.'
Later that night, Politico reported that Moran had left his role as director of Youngkin's PAC.
In a statement, the Virginia Republican party of Virginia said it would unite behind the nominees for all positions up for election.
'All the attention in this race should be on the extremism of Virginia Democrats and their far-left vision for our Commonwealth,' the statement said.
Kate Seltzer, 757-713-7881, [e-mail]