At an event hosted by the W&L College Republicans, Republican candidate for Virginia Lt. Gov. John Reid spoke to a crowd of 20 students in Northen Auditorium on Monday, Oct. 20.
Reid introduced himself individually to every student in attendance and began his campaign speech by saying that he “made a commitment not to change his speech,” no matter where he was delivering it.
Reid, host of the WRVA Morning Show, founder of the Virginia Council and longtime public servant, is running to be the lieutenant governor in a close race, according to Virginia Commonwealth University.
Reid’s opponent, Democrat Ghazala Hashmi, is a state senator representing Virginia’s 15th District and a former professor of English literature at the University of Richmond. Hashmi is the only statewide candidate that did not accept the challenge of a debate against her opponent this cycle, according to the Washington Post. Reid criticized Hashmi for not debating him multiple times during his campus visit. Hashmi’s campaign has not provided a reason for this decision.
During his speech, Reid said Virginia voters are thinking about “common issues, common problems” as they head to the ballot box this November.
One of them is the economy, which Reid said is a major concern for young voters. “If [Virginia] starts to cede economically, you’re not going to want to be here,” Reid said to students at the event.
He said the state must focus on retaining jobs and encouraging new human innovation. Reid also pointed to his experience as communications chair for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce as something that will help him in working with business and factory owners to boost the economy.
Reid defended Virginia’s right-to-work law, which prohibits union membership as a requirement to work at a company. Virginia is the northernmost state on the East Coast with this type of regulation, something Reid says is very attractive to business owners and employees alike.
He said another issue he believes many voters are concerned about is education. In his speech, Reid noted that schools are a complicated discussion, but that politicians need to be realistic and “shoot straight about the varying qualities of schools” throughout the state.
Reid said, if elected, he would support students by bolstering school choice initiatives that would allow families to choose which public schools to send their children.
Reid also said that Virginia spends $21 billion every year on education, which he said is more than double what the state was spending five years ago. Despite this increased spending, Reid said, the quality of education and rates of student success have not improved. Reid said that “Hashmi is pushing bad education policy and is beholden to the teachers’ unions” instead of families.
Reid criticized politicians in Richmond who he said perpetuate a violent culture. “People may protest, but may not riot in Virginia moving forward,” he said.
Reid said he condemned a series of violent text messages sent by Jay Jones, the Democratic candidate for Virginia attorney general. Last month, reports revealed that in 2022, Jones sent text messages to a fellow member of the Virginia House of Delegates, saying he would “piss” on the graves of political opponents if they died before him and that he wanted to shoot a political opponent twice in the head. Reid called the messages a “contemporary flaw” of Jones and those who allow themselves to hate their political opposites.
If elected, Reid would be the first openly gay Republican in any American statewide office and the first gay man in a Virginia statewide office. He spoke about the transgender movement during his speech, saying it has harmed the progress of gay men and women.
He compared the gay rights movement’s emphasis on acceptance with what he described as transgender advocates’ demands for special treatment. He said the transgender movement has “hijacked and taken advantage of the open-mindedness of modern society.” He said he supports school bathroom policies based on biological sex and protections for women’s sports.
At the end of his speech, Reid opened the floor for questions from students. The questions covered topics like the government shutdown’s impact on the election, data centers in Northern Virginia, political polarization and how H-1B visas might disadvantage young Americans entering the job market.
Election Day for all statewide and local offices in Virginia is Tuesday, Nov. 4.
