Analyst: Youngkin made a ‘big mistake’ asking Reid to drop out of lieutenant governor race

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) -- Governor Glenn Youngkin is likely weighing his options after John Reid, the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor, hosted a rally on Wednesday with hundreds of people in attendance.

“The governor made a big mistake. He really stepped in it,” Larry Sabato, Director of the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics, told 8News. 

The rally comes just days after Youngkin asked Reid to step aside from the race for lieutenant governor after Youngkin was made aware of a Tumblr account potentially connected to Reid that previously shared sexually explicit images. 

“People don’t care,” Sabato said. “They just don’t care.” 

Sabato said Youngkin misunderstood how Republican voters would feel about a scandal involving a gay candidate. 

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“I think Youngkin was very surprised. He’ll never admit it, but he was shocked to find that the Republican base has come into the 21st century on this issue,” Sabato told 8News. “Republicans as well as Democrats, and Libertarians believe that people’s private lives are their private lives and unless they’re breaking the law, then there’s no reason for it to disqualify anyone from the ballot.”

Sabato added that the size of Reid’s crowd on Wednesday spoke volumes and could force Youngkin to change course and support Reid.

“It’s become very obvious what the core of the Republican party thinks about this. They’re angry about it. They aren’t just supportive of Reid. They’re angry about what Governor Youngkin and his political aide did,” Sabato explained. 

Sabato said he believes Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, who will lead the Republican ticket in November, will also have to come out in support of Reid fairly soon.