When Gov. Glenn Youngkin of Virginia found out that Republican research had linked the G.O.P.’s nominee for lieutenant governor to a blog featuring photos of naked men, he tried to save his party from an embarrassing situation.
Mr. Youngkin called the candidate, John Reid, a longtime conservative talk radio host in Richmond, and told him he needed to abandon his campaign because the website was certain to be discovered and would tank the party’s entire ticket.
“I need you to drop out,” Mr. Youngkin said, according to two people briefed on the call.
Then a funny thing happened. Mr. Reid did not quit. Instead, he posted a five-minute video to social media noting that he is gay and explaining that he had watched pornography and had one-night stands in the past. The Republican base in Virginia quickly rallied around him.
It also revealed a stunning lack of political juice from Mr. Youngkin, who has been considered a potential Republican presidential candidate since the day he won election as governor in 2021. A wealthy former private equity executive, he is widely credited with saving Virginia Republicans from oblivion and, since his victory, has rebuilt and funded much of the state party.
The contretemps comes as Democrats are heavily favored to win the November election for governor of Virginia, one of this year’s marquee races. Only once since 1977 have Virginia voters elected a governor of the same party as the president.
Virginia Democrats are especially optimistic this year because Mr. Trump is highly unpopular in the state, which has borne the brunt of federal government layoffs. Mr. Youngkin, who cannot run again because of term limits, is backing Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears as his Republican successor — but she has raised less than half as much money as the Democratic nominee, former Representative Abigail Spanberger.
The controversy has divided Virginia Republicans and further dented their hopes. When Mr. Youngkin maneuvered to push out Mr. Reid, the party’s MAGA base quickly labeled the governor an establishment stooge.
“It’s five to one,” said John Fredericks, a right-wing talk radio host who has a daily show syndicated across Virginia. “They want Reid to stay in the race. They think the establishment is trying to screw him. Who cares about penises on Tumblr? No one cares.”
The trouble in Virginia began late last month when Mr. Reid’s lone opponent in the Republican primary contest for lieutenant governor dropped out after undergoing heart surgery.
The Republican State Leadership Committee, the arm of the party that helps fund candidates for lieutenant governor, then produced a basic research document on Mr. Reid. It included the Tumblr blog, which had the same username he used on other social media sites and has since been deleted. The Washington Post described its contents as “ranging from explicit photos of male genitalia to images typical of a racy underwear ad.”
Mr. Reid, whose father served in the Virginia legislature and once fired a gun by mistake inside his Capitol office, denied being the author of the Tumblr.
In an extraordinary move, he posted his five-minute explanation of the situation and vowed to remain in the race — while standing in front of portraits of Mr. Youngkin and Ms. Earle-Sears. He said he had attended drag shows in Richmond but called the Tumblr a “fake account” and said the idea that it belonged to him was “a total, fabricated internet lie.”
“Have I seen porn? Yes,” he said. “Have I had one-night stands? Are my exes still in love with me? No. What more can I possibly tell you? Why am I the candidate who has to answer these questions? It’s because I am openly gay, and I have never bowed down to the establishment and I will not.”
There is no mechanism in Virginia election law that would allow Republicans to force Mr. Reid from the race. Mr. Reid, who declined to be interviewed for this article, has remained defiant as the controversy has scrambled typical Republican alliances.
Ms. Earle-Sears has kept her distance from Mr. Reid. A Christian conservative, she wrote a note by hand last year to declare herself “morally opposed” to legislation signed by Mr. Youngkin that prohibited Virginia officials from denying a marriage license because of sex, gender or race.
Yet others on the party’s right wing have embraced Mr. Reid. The Loudoun County Republican Committee is now selling “I Support John Reid” T-shirts for $25 — available in eight colors.
While Mr. Fredericks said the Republican base thought Mr. Reid was being treated unfairly, he predicted that the Republican ticket would lose if he did not drop out.
“We have a tendency to litigate our primaries in Virginia all the way to the general election,” said John Whitbeck, a former chairman of the Virginia Republican Party. “This is yet another example of how we shoot ourselves in the foot in the party.”
There is no shortage of Republicans taking aim at one another’s feet.
Mr. Reid’s lawyer sent a cease-and-desist letter to Mr. Youngkin’s longtime political adviser, who had sought to engineer Mr. Reid’s departure from the race. The adviser subsequently stepped aside from his post. The two sides have traded accusatory letters, leaked recordings of meetings to the Richmond news media and floated threats of new damaging information on Mr. Reid.
Mr. Youngkin has tried to declare something of a truce, and Mr. Reid has taken victory laps while serving as a guest host on Mr. Fredericks’s radio show.
“This situation has clearly spiraled beyond what anyone intended,” said Tim Anderson, a former Virginia state legislator who is aiding Mr. Reid’s campaign. “This should have never become a public spectacle, and he should have been given the opportunity to privately meet with stakeholders to find resolution or to show his defenses before he was asked to resign.”
Mr. Youngkin, for his part, told reporters in Richmond last week that staying in the race was “John Reid’s decision” after being asked if he would campaign with Mr. Reid.
“He has clearly made up his mind that he’s going to stay in,” Mr. Youngkin said. “And so he is the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor. And I think the debate can stop there, because that’s the answer.”
Mr. Youngkin declined an interview request and is now backing Mr. Reid’s campaign.
“The governor is supporting the G.O.P. ticket,” said Becca Glover, Mr. Youngkin’s spokeswoman. “We are moving forward.”
