Gay Virginia GOP nominee accuses Youngkin’s team of extortion, says lewd photos not his

Virginia’s Republican nominee for lieutenant governor is accusing Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s political advisors of extortion and says they’re trying to force him to end his campaign. John Reid is the first openly gay man to run on the Republican statewide ticket. In two videos he posted online, he went public with details of what he called Youngkin’s efforts to get him to leave the race. Many Republicans continue to support Reid. Reid suddenly became the nominee for lieutenant governor a week ago, when the favorite and only other candidate, Fairfax County Supervisor Pat Herrity, stepped aside for health reasons. Reid said before that, religious activists threatened him with what they described as sexually explicit photos. Then, he says he got a call from Youngkin. Reid said he has no intention of dropping out. “I’m tougher than any of my detractors, and I’m not going anywhere,” he said in the defiant conclusion to a video he posted online Sunday. The former Richmond radio talk show host, who has been with his partner for eight years, went public on Friday. He said religious activists threatened to release lewd photos they claimed he had posted on a Tumblr account. Reid says the photos
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