Franklin News Post: John Reid, Republican lieutenant governor candidate, visits Franklin County

Republican lieutenant governor candidate John Reid made a campaign stop in Franklin County on Monday to visit some local establishments and speak with the media.

Reid had lunch at the popular Bowling’s Place in Rocky Mount and tried one of their famous hot dogs before visiting nearby Callaway to be a guest on The Appalachian Podcast. The event was set up by Rocky Mount Mayor Holland Perdue who reached out to his campaign staff about a visit to the area.

Reid, a native of Richmond, has a long history in politics. His father, former delegate Jack Reid, served nine terms in Virginia’s House of Delegates.

The younger Reid took his first steps into politics in 1993 serving as an intern and press assistant for former President Ronald Reagan in Los Angeles for a year following his two terms in the White House. Reid then moved into broadcast news as a producer and reporter for several years before he returned to politics as the communications director for U.S. Sen. George Allen in 2004.

In the years since, he has been head of communications for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, director of international development for Qorvis Communications working in Kuwait and later as a chief communications officer for the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America veterans group.

Reid has spent the last eight years as the morning talk show host for WRVA based out of Richmond.

It was in 2020 that Reid said he began feeling the urge to step into politics as a candidate. He recalled a riot in Richmond in May of that year when hundreds of people marched the street to protest George Floyd’s death and eventually set a bus on fire.

“What happened in 2020 with the reckless behavior of Democrat leaders in Richmond,” Reid said. “The $250,000 bus being burned. Cops being pelted with balloons filled with urine and feces. Black families having their businesses burned by white, leftist agitators who hid behind their supposed concerns for racial equity. I’d had enough of it.”

Reid was also critical of what he called “overreach” of Richmond during the COVID-19 pandemic during the same time. He questioned the requirement of some individuals in government jobs to take the COVID-19 vaccine and decisions to keep some stores open while closing others for safety.

“I was very frustrated that the state government left the ABC stores open but then closed mom-and-pop shops,” Reid said. “I thought that was unfair. I can only imagine the devastation that had in rural parts of the state.”

As Reid tells it, his decision to join the race was cemented in January of this year when Richmond experienced a water outage following a blizzard. The outage lasted several days and impacted most of the capital city and parts of some surrounding counties.

“The reason that happened was Democrat leadership of the mayor,” Reid said. “Richmond is run by Democrats, and they never focus on what needs to be the priority, which is the pumps and the pipes and the basic operational function of society.”

“It’s always this social justice warrior mindset, and I think it is very distracting and I think in the long run is really harmful to the culture.”

Reid is the first openly gay man to be a statewide nominee in Virginia. He said his sexual orientation isn’t something he wants voters to be concerned about when going to the polls this November.

“You should not vote for me because of that, and I hope you won’t disqualify me because of that,” Reid said. “Because you are never going to find a candidate who is more solid on the issues that I think the conservatives in Virginia care about.”

Recovering from rocky start

Reid’s campaign had a rocky start following his nomination as the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor in April. Gov. Glenn Youngkin made a public push for him to withdraw from the race after accusations that a social media site that posted photos of nude male models was connected to Reid.

“With this latest garbage that happened — which was all fabricated and designed to smear and intimidate me and push me off the ticket — if there is one thing that somebody should take from that is that I will not back down,” Reid said. “You are not going to ever bully or push me out of the way.”

The controversy created a split for some time between Youngkin and Winsome Earle-Sears who is the Republican nominee for governor. In recent weeks they have pushed for party unity, which Reid said is necessary to defeat Democrats this November.

“I certainly wish that ugliness hadn’t occurred, and I am angry about it,” he said, “but I’ve got to stay focused on the goal, which is to save Virginia from leftist, radical Democrat ideas that will tank the economy and permanently destroy the culture of Virginia.”

Reid said the economy and job growth are two of the more important issues in speaking with Virginians. With his background at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, he says he will be able to make deals that can bring jobs to Virginia.

“I think that is probably the paramount issue, is to make sure we have solid policies that don’t harm the robust economic ecosystem of Virginia,” Reid said.

Reid said he also wants to assure that Southwest Virginia gets the same attention as areas of Northern Virginia. He applauded an idea first suggested by Earle-Sears to have a governor’s office dedicated to Southwest Virginia.

Reid said that everyone in the state deserves to be heard and to have an opportunity for financial success. He added that Republicans will be focused on providing that this November.