Latest news with #SpiritofVirginiaPAC
New York Post
13-05-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
Virginia GOP's gay-porn disaster a lesson to Republicans: primaries matter
Don't blame President Donald Trump for the setback Republicans are facing this November. Ahead of next year's congressional midterms, the first big test of the GOP's strength since Trump returned to office comes this fall in New Jersey and Virginia. While Republicans always expect an uphill battle in New Jersey, Virginia ought to be favorable territory — after all, the GOP won every statewide office there just four years ago with Glenn Youngkin atop the ticket. Advertisement But it's Youngkin and company, not Trump, who are on the verge of forfeiting Virginia to the Democrats this year. What went wrong is a tale of botched succession and inadequate intra-party competition. Republicans nationwide need to pay heed to the Virginia party's self-immolation. Advertisement The big story isn't the sex scandal engulfing the GOP's openly gay candidate for lieutenant governor, John Reid. It's not even the role Youngkin and the head of his Spirit of Virginia PAC — who's since had to resign — played in promoting the scandal in a botched effort to force Reid to drop out. Sex and betrayal make great headlines, but the lieutenant governor's race — and Reid's apparent dalliances with drag queens and pornography — is a sideshow: The race that matters most is for governor. With term limits preventing Youngkin from succeeding himself, his lieutenant governor, Winsome Earle-Sears, expected to get her turn at the top of the ticket. Advertisement And she has: The primary isn't until next month, but because Earle-Sears' challengers dropped out before the deadline to appear on the ballot, she's the default nominee. In fact, there's no primary competition for any statewide office, although a challenger to Reid who gave up earlier, businessman John Curran, is now attempting a write-in campaign. Republicans in Virginia, like those in many other places, think competition is a fine thing except when it comes to their own races. And the major factions of the party, which until recently were the Christian right and country-club moderates, have long preferred to settle their differences in the close confines of party conventions rather than in primaries. Advertisement The rise of MAGA hasn't changed much: Reid seemed unbeatable before the Youngkin circle exposed his antics because he's a talk-radio host popular with the populist right. But the party's habit of quashing competition applied even to him, until Youngkin's coterie changed their mind (and changed it too late — Reid is still probably unbeatable in the primary, only now much weaker in the general election). Each well-managed faction preferred not to have a primary fight, so all of them together avoided one, deferring to Earle-Sears as the next in line for the marquee spot on the ticket. That was a mistake. Earle-Sears was reassuring to the party's right wing four years ago, as a black woman (and immigrant from Jamaica) in the post-George Floyd era who'd served in the United States Marine Corps and was outspokenly anti-abortion and supportive of gun rights. Moderates might have perceived her as inexperienced — she'd served two years in the House of Delegates in the early 2000s — but Youngkin's coattails with centrists carried Earle-Sears and the rest of the ticket to victory. Once in office, however, Earle-Sears made some rookie mistakes, looking ahead to running for governor in her own right by trying to court the moderates who weren't so keen on her — while losing support with right-wingers, especially once she started to opine on national politics. Advertisement 'I could not support him. I just couldn't,' she told Fox News in 2022 about the possibility of another Trump bid for the White House. 'A true leader understands when they have become a liability,' she said. She felt differently by the time Trump locked up the GOP presidential nomination last year, but the damage with MAGA voters was already done. The result was that Earle-Sears remained too well-positioned to challenge, but is ill-prepared to maximize conservative turnout or win moderates the way Youngkin did. Advertisement Her response to the Reid controversy has also been alienating both supporters of the man who hopes to succeed her as lieutenant governor and those who want to cut him loose: 'John Reid is the Republican nominee for Lt. Governor. It is his race and his decision alone to move forward,' she stated on Facebook. 'We all have our own race to run.' Advertisement She trails the presumptive Democratic nominee, Abigail Spanberger, in all early polls by an average of nearly 7 percentage points. Earle-Sears and Reid both needed the kind of close scrutiny they would have received in a competitive primary. A tough primary might have weakened the eventual nominees — but they would hardly be weaker than they are now, and early exposure of their vulnerabilities might have allowed the party to pick better. Primaries can be unruly, but if the GOP wants to avoid a rout next year, it will have to put its candidates to stricter tests than they've faced in Virginia. Daniel McCarthy is the editor of Modern Age: A Conservative Review.
Daily Mail
05-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Trump's presidential 'heir' plunged into gay porn scandal
A MAGA favorite to become president after Donald Trump is facing a growing crisis over a gay porn scandal. Last Friday, Virginia Gov Glenn Youngkin asked Republican nominee for lieutenant governor John Reid to drop out of the race amid allegations he ran a social media page filled with naked pictures of men. Reid, who is gay and married, denied that the page was his and refused to resign, claiming the page was created in an effort to sabotage his bid to become lieutenant governor. Now Youngkin is stuck in a bind between needing to publicly back the Republican candidate in Virginia's statewide elections and not wanting to align himself with the man hit by controversy. The crisis, which could damage Youngkin's chances on the national stage in '28, escalated further over the weekend as one of the governor's top aides resigned. Matt Moran, who ran Youngkin's Spirit of Virginia PAC, stepped down after he was accused of pressuring Reid to remove himself from the GOP ticket. Moran has publicly denied he pushed Reid to step aside. It comes after a GOP top brass tried to pressure Reid to quit over the alleged lewd social media page. Under Virginia law, Youngkin cannot run for a second consecutive gubernatorial term in the commonwealth. Many feel that instead, he could launch a 2028 presidential bid as President Donald Trump completes his second term. Coincidence? The candidate's Instagram handle is 'jrdeux,' the same username a Tumblr account has used to repost hundreds of explicit images But Youngkin is not an early frontrunner when it comes to the 2028 race. Instead, Republicans seem to prefer the likes of VP JD Vance or the President's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, to take over Trump's political legacy, polls show. In an interview with NBC News on Sunday, Trump named Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio as his potential replacements. Reid is the first openly gay candidate for statewide office in Virginia. Youngkin is unable to run for a second consecutive term for governor under Virginia law. His Republican lieutenant governor Winsome Earle-Sears is running to be the next leader of the commonwealth. 'The Governor was made aware late Thursday of the disturbing online content,' Youngkin's Spirit of Virginia PAC wrote in a statement. 'Friday morning, in a call with Mr Reid, the Governor asked him to step down as the Lt Governor nominee.' Reid was connected to explicit posts on a Tumblr account with the handle 'jrdeux', which the candidate has used on other social media sites like Instagram and Threads. Reid's husband, Alonzo Mable, has tagged his spouse in social media posts using the 'jrdeux' moniker. The Tumblr account includes a litany of gay pornographic images and kinks. The former radio host says that Youngkin's political operation is threatening him with further damaging information in an effort of hurting his chances at election to be Virginia's next lieutenant governor. 'I can tell you that's not my account,' Reid said in a five-minute video posted on X last week addressing the controversy. In the clip, Reid notes he was approached by individuals who warned him the account could be damaging to his campaign. 'I demanded to see the evidence, and someone created a social media account with my Instagram name, a name, which I've had for years, but this fake account reposted nude pictures of other people, models, and porn models,' he says. 'That's not my account, and anyone on the Internet can open accounts with the same or similar names as other people.'
Daily Mail
04-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Trump's presidential 'heir' plunged into gay scandal
Virginia Republicans were plunged into scandal after their candidate for lieutenant governor was revealed to allegedly be running a social media account where he posted images of nude men. Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Friday asked Republican nominee for lieutenant governor John Reid to drop out of the race. But Reid, who is gay and married, refused to cave to a week of pressure to step aside. Reid maintains he was not connected to the photos and claims they are an extortion tactic related to what he says are efforts to remove him from the Republican ticket because of his sexual orientation. The controversy could hurt Youngkin in his future political endeavors. Under Virginia law, Youngkin cannot run for a second consecutive gubernatorial term in the commonwealth. Many feel that instead, he could launch a 2028 presidential bid as President Donald Trump completes his second term. But Youngkin is far from an early frontrunner when it comes to the 2028 primary race. Instead, Republicans appear to prefer the likes of Vice President J.D. Vance or the president's eldest son Donald Trump Jr. to be the heir to the Trump political legacy, according to multiple polls. In a Sunday interview with NBC News, Trump named Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio as potential figures to continue his MAGA agenda. Once leaders within Virginia's GOP became aware of the explicit photos and Reid's social media activity, they tried to force him out of the race. But these efforts appeared to backfire in some cases. For example, Matt Moran, who ran Youngkin's Spirit of Virginia PAC, stepped aside when he was accused of pressuring Reid to remove himself from the GOP ticket. Moran has publicly denied he pushed Reid to step aside. Reid is the first openly gay candidate for statewide office in Virginia. Youngkin cannot run for a second consecutive term for governor under Virginia law. His Republican lieutenant governor Winsome Earle-Sears is running to be the next leader of the commonwealth. 'The Governor was made aware late Thursday of the disturbing online content,' Youngkin's Spirit of Virginia PAC wrote in a statement. 'Friday morning, in a call with Mr. Reid, the Governor asked him to step down as the Lt. Governor nominee.' Moran did not say if he would campaign on behalf of Reid, but told Politico that he will 'support the nominees and their ticket.' 'At the end of the day, Republicans need to win. And that's the bottom line,' Moran said. Reid was connected to explicit posts on a Tumblr account with the handle 'jrdeux', which the candidate has used on other social media sites like Instagram and Threads. Reid's husband, Alonzo Mable, has tagged his spouse in social media posts using the 'jrdeux' moniker. The Tumblr account includes a litany of gay pornographic images and kinks. The former radio host says that Youngkin's political operation is threatening him with further damaging information in an effort of hurting his chances at election to be Virginia's next lieutenant governor. 'I can tell you that's not my account,' Reid said in a five-minute video posted on X last week addressing the controversy. In the clip, Reid notes how he was approached by individuals who warned him the account could be damaging to his campaign. 'I demanded to see the evidence, and someone created a social media account with my instagram name, a name, which I've had for years, but this fake account reposted nude pictures of other people, models and porn models,' he says. 'I can tell you, that's not my account, and anyone on the internet can open accounts with the same or similar names as other people.'
Axios
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Axios
Becca Glover replaces head of Youngkin's PAC amid GOP scandal
Becca Glover, the former deputy chief of staff for Gov. Youngkin, has taken over as executive director of the governor's PAC. Why it matters: It comes less than 24 hours after multiple outlets reported that Matt Moran, who has long held the role, was stepping down following a scandal that has been rocking the Virginia GOP this past week. The latest: Youngkin said Glover, who left the administration last January, will lead the Spirit of Virginia PAC in a Friday press briefing. "Becca will do a really, really good job," Youngkin said. "She's trusted. We know her." It's unclear if the role is a permanent change, as some outlets reported that Moran was only "temporarily" removing himself from Youngkin's PAC. Glover declined Axios' request to comment on the matter. Zoom in: Youngkin also confirmed in the press briefing that Moran had stepped aside earlier this week, saying Moran "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" at the PAC.
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Top Youngkin aide steps down amid controversy over lieutenant governor nominee
The head of Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin's (R) Spirit of Virginia PAC, Matt Moran, has stepped down from his role amid the controversy surrounding the governor calling on the GOP lieutenant governor nominee, John Reid, to suspend his campaign, according to a source familiar with internal deliberations. The development comes a week after Youngkin called Reid to suspend his campaign after a report that Republican researchers came across sexually explicit photos on Tumblr posted by the same username Reid uses on other accounts. Reid has adamantly denied the allegations and went as far on Monday as to accuse Youngkin's team of extortion. Reid, who is openly gay, has also said the reason he is being targeted is because of his sexuality. Virginia Republicans have flocked to Reid's defense in the face of the controversy, calling Youngkin's move 'an unforced error' and laying blame on the Spirit of Virginia PAC. Reid held a rally in Henrico County on Wednesday, which drew over 500 attendees, according to local media. Youngkin addressed the controversy earlier this week at a press conference during a fentanyl awareness event. 'It's a distraction for campaigns and it's a distraction from people paying attention to the most important issues, and here we are today talking about fentanyl and saving lives and the distraction is present,' Youngkin said. 'That's why I called him on Friday morning.' 'And the decision is John's and up to John,' the governor continued. Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears (R ), who is the GOP nominee for governor, echoed Youngkin's remarks in a separate statement Tuesday evening. 'This week, focus on the lieutenant governor nominee distracted from that mission and cannot continue,' Earle-Sears said, referring to the mission 'to unite and inspire Virginians of all backgrounds.' '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.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
