Virginia GOP rocked by Youngkin-Reid scandal

State of play: The scandal, first reported by The Richmonder, began Friday after Youngkin asked John Reid, Virginia's Republican nominee for lieutenant governor, to drop out over the discovery of photos of nude men posted to Tumblr under a handle used by Reid elsewhere online.

• The Richmond-area radio host — and Virginia's first openly gay nominee for statewide office — vehemently denied sharing the photos.
• "That's not my account," Reid said. "Anyone on the internet can open accounts with the same or similar names as other people."

On Sunday, he declared in a video on social media: "I'm not going anywhere."

• He accused Youngkin's political team of targeting him because he's gay, and telling his campaign that if he quit, the "lies and threats" against him will stop.

Reid didn't respond to Axios' requests for comment.

Youngkin's office referred Axios' questions to the governor's PAC, Spirit of Virginia, on Monday. A spokesperson for the PAC didn't respond to Axios, nor did Youngkin's senior political adviser, Matt Moran.

• Neither did the campaign of Attorney General Jason Miyares, who shares the historically diverse GOP statewide ticket with Reid and has yet to comment publicly.
• Meanwhile, the Wednesday event scheduled for all statewide GOP nominees was canceled.

The latest: Youngkin spoke publicly for the first time about the issue on Tuesday afternoon, per RTD, and said he called Reid last week because explicit social media content is "a distraction for campaigns."

• Then in a Tuesday night statement, Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears reaffirmed Reid as the GOP nominee, saying, "It is his race and his decision alone to move forward."

Zoom in: The path forward has to come from Earle-Sears, says Richard Meagher, a political science professor at Randolph-Macon College.

• Meagher tells Axios it's an opportunity for the lieutenant governor to show leadership and independence from Youngkin.
• "She has to make the case of 'I'm in charge now. I'm going to be the governor. This is my opportunity to show how I'm going to lead,'" Meagher said.

Between the lines: "I think the calculation for Youngkin in trying to make this preemptive move is that the conservative base is uncomfortable with a gay candidate," Meagher said.

• A post from the Virginia Christian Alliance disavows Reid's candidacy because of his identity, and the conservative Family Foundation has called for Reid to "step aside."

Zoom out: The Arlington and Loudoun GOP have voiced their continued support of Reid — as did Republicans who came out to see the candidate in Southwest Virginia this weekend, per The Washington Post. (Earle-Sears was scheduled to be there but didn't attend.)

• "If this is how the Governor's political operation wants to close out his term in Richmond — by tossing a grenade into the statewide Republican ticket — it's truly a shame," wrote Arlington GOP chair Matthew Hurtt.

What we're watching: A lawyer repping Reid also sent a cease-and-desist letter Monday to Youngkin's PAC, saying they should stop sharing "false and defamatory statements" about him.

• On Wednesday, Moran posted a response to the letter from his legal counsel on X, which reads: "Mr. Moran strongly denies that he has defamed Mr. Reid in any manner whatsoever."

This story has been updated to add statements from Youngkin, Earle-Sears, Moran's legal counsel and information about Reid's cease-and-desist letter.