Bacon's Rebellion: Reid Vows to Fight for Prosperity, Public Safety, Parental Rights

Kudos. The Washington Post and Richmond Times-Dispatch both managed to write straightforward news articles about WRVA talk show host John Reid entering the race for lieutenant governor. It’s a low bar, but we never take it for granted, and we’re always happy to see it. Unsurprisingly, though, both newspapers viewed Reid’s bid through a culture-war lens.

Reid is gay. And the authors of both articles wonder if his sexual orientation represents a handicap in a Republican party primary.

Writes the Post’s Laura Vozella:

Reid could face a challenge appealing to socially conservative Republicans who have long opposed gay rights. [Denver] Riggleman, as a freshman congressman from rural central Virginia, lost a GOP nominating convention in 2020 after officiating a same-sex wedding. In 2021, a Republican running for lieutenant governor was targeted for supporting gay rights. Only a few Republicans in the General Assembly voted this year to support an effort to enshrine same-sex marriage rights in the state constitution.

Reid opposes the marriage amendment because it does not contain language saying religious organizations and clergy may refuse to officiate such unions. (Democrats say that language is not needed because churches and clergy already have that right under state law.) Reid said he would rather have the state simply repeal an amendment, adopted in 2006, that bans same-sex marriage. The ban is defunct but could become operative again if the Supreme Court reverses its 2015 ruling legalizing those unions nationwide.

The RTD’s Anna Bryson also noted that Reid wants to see the ban fully repealed, and she reported that he would like to marry his eight-year partner Alonzo Mable, who is African-American.

But Reid is not campaigning on gay rights. He’s campaigning on conservative pocketbook and culture-war issues. Indeed, he’s arguably more conservative than most Republicans. And if the 200 to 300 people packed into his launch party at Atlas 42 are any indication, Henrico County voters could care less about his sexual orientation. When Reid introduced Mable and his family, the crowd gave them a warm welcome.

In the biggest applause line of the evening, Reid said, “I have so many people as I travel around the state who said … that they can’t vote Republican because we’re racist and we’re homophobic, and so I’ve gotten to the point where I just say: ‘Alonzo, you want to take this one?’”

Reid’s immediate challenge will be defeating Pat Herrity, a lifelong Virginian and the sole Republican on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors, who has a background as a CFO of small and midsized fast-growth companies. The issues on his campaign website check all the conservative boxes, from right-to-life and border security to schools and public safety. The website does not mention gays at all. Indeed, it’s hard to spot much disagreement between Reid and Herrity. In all likelihood the contest will come down to factors other than policy stances.

Both candidates have extensive connections in the Republican Party. Reid’s father Jack Reid represented Henrico County for nine terms in the House of Delegates. Reid started his career as communications director for Senator George Allen, and one of the speakers at his launch party was former Governor Jim Gilmore. Likewise, Herrity’s father Jack Herrity served as chairman of Fairfax County for 12 years before it became irretrievably blue.

(James City County businessman John Curran, who lost a bid for the county Board of Supervisors in 2023, also has announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor. Seven Democrats are bidding for the Democratic nomination.)

Reid’s drawback is that he is not wealthy and has no ability to personally underwrite the cost of a statewide campaign. His big advantage is a high name recognition in Central Virginia as host of the region’s No. 1 rated talk radio show. He does a great job speaking extemporaneously, as one would expect from a talk show host. And he has an amiable, self-deprecating demeanor that will make it difficult to paint him as mean or bigoted.

The big wild card is what happens in Washington, D.C., as President Trump undertakes the dismantling of the deep state — at great peril to Northern Virginia’s massive federal civilian workforce — not to mention closing the border, deporting illegal immigrants, deregulating the economy, imposing tariffs, reversing DEI, pardoning J6 felons, retaliating against enemies, and whatever else I’ve left off the list.

During a rally in Richmond last year, notes the RTD, Trump gave a shoutout to “radio host John Reid and Alonzo. … They like you guys.”

Is a Republican well advised to pose as an ally of Trump, who is riding high right now? A Trump bump could help Reid this year. But the shoutout could create a Trump slump if the president’s policies prove unpopular by November.

I don’t make candidate endorsements and never have (not that many candidates have ever coveted a Bacon’s Rebellion seal of approval). But I’ve gotten to know John pretty well the past couple of years — I appeared weekly on his radio show before he had to quit to run for office — and I don’t think the “gay” label will hurt him.

First of all, he’s not running on his gay identity. He’s not saying, “Vote for me and make history electing the first gay lieutenant governor in history.” Identity politics is a Democratic Party thing. He’s simply being open and honest about his sexual orientation. I think it’s much more likely that Democrats and media will make an issue of his gay identity than Republicans will.

When gays act like normies, as opposed to militant leftist “queers” who take delight in offending bourgeois sensibilities, Republicans are happy to have them on the team. Reid is a normie. He wants gays to integrate into the cultural mainstream (if there is such a thing as a mainstream anymore). He jumped off the LGBQT-rights train when it morphed into Drag Queen Story Hour and irreversible surgery for trans teens.

I don’t expect Reid to spend much time talking about his gayness. His top priorities are creating jobs and prosperity for Virginians, creating safe communities, and combating woke ideology. Here’s how he put it in the press release announcing his run for office:“It’s imperative that we continue to back our law enforcement officers, stand up for parental rights, and bring business and jobs to our Commonwealth by cutting red tape regulations and lowering taxes. … I’m the most conservative and proven candidate running, and I’ve boldly stood up for our beliefs in a way that should make my personal life a total non-issue.”