How One Tumblr Account Just Blew Up an Entire Election

Virginia Lt. Governor Nominee John Reid’s Controversy Has Become a Political Time Bomb for Republicans, That has to Change

Electability Is Everything—No Spin Can Change That

Friday, May 2nd, 2025: By Walter Curt

In politics, one rule eclipses all others: you must win. Ideological purity, airtight policy agendas, even fierce party loyalty are worthless unless they translate into votes. Political parties exist to capture and exercise power; every nomination, every tactical decision must answer one test—does it advance victory? Without it, principles remain slogans and values stay forever out of reach. Winning isn’t merely important; in politics, it’s the only thing that matters.

Virginia Republicans now confront that brutal arithmetic. The scandal enveloping lieutenant-governor nominee John Reid has rendered his candidacy untenable, and everyone—including Reid—knows it. His bid to recast himself as a victim of homophobia misses the point entirely. Voters are unmoved by his sexuality; they are alarmed by reports that he allegedly maintained and interacted with an overtly sexual online persona.

Make no mistake: even the allegation that John Reid controlled the now-deleted Tumblr account “jrdeux” has blasted a crater in his candidacy and blocked the GOP’s road to victory in November. If party leaders don’t reopen the primary and usher him off the ticket, Democrats will flood rural Virginia with lurid ads that smear the entire slate by association. The calculus is brutal—either Reid exits now, or Republicans brace for a wipe-out this fall. Sentiment, loyalty, even Reid’s prior service can’t outweigh raw electoral math. For the sake of the party—and the win—he must step aside, and he must do it immediately.

His sexuality isn’t the issue. It’s 2025; voters largely ignore whom a candidate loves. What unsettles them—especially conservatives in pivotal rural counties—is the unresolved link to explicit fetish content. Reid’s claim that homophobia fuels the criticism is not only misplaced but insults voters’ intelligence. Rural conservatives might support a gay nominee; they will not rally behind one plausibly tied to a self-inflicted scandal of sexual impropriety.

The circumstantial evidence underpinning the “jrdeux” charge is plausible enough to convince swing voters. The handle matches Reid’s public usernames on Instagram and TikTok, and—crucially—the Tumblr vanished within hours of reporters spotlighting it. That lightning-fast takedown looks less like coincidence than a frantic attempt at damage control, gifting Democrats a ready-made storyline for relentless attack ads.

Reid’s defense—that an unknown impostor spent years curating a pornographic scrapbook under his unique username—may be true, yet to the average voter it sounds implausible, especially in light of the sudden deletion. Even if Reid never appears in the images, the timing and optics alone furnish Democrats with ample ammunition to brand him unfit. In campaigns, perception beats proof every time.

Practically speaking, Reid’s refusal to bow out is a godsend for Democrats and a powder keg for Republicans—both in Richmond and on Capitol Hill. With Virginia’s House and Senate already blue, ceding the governor’s mansion would hand Democrats a full trifecta, unlocking every lever of state power just as the 2026 cycle heats up. The flood of legislation, appointments, and fundraising headlines that follows will spill into neighboring battlegrounds and threaten the GOP’s wafer-thin majority in the U.S. House.

Expect scorched-earth advertising. Democrats will pump graphic morality-play spots into every rural county, casting Reid as the poster child for a party unmoored from traditional values. Those images won’t stop at the lieutenant-governor line; they’ll bleed into General Assembly races and the congressional districts that lace Virginia’s countryside, draining enthusiasm and flipping seats Republicans cannot afford to lose.

Exhibit A is already queued for those ads: a Wayback Machine screenshot showing the “jrdeux” account reblogging a post that screams:

Exhibit A

One freeze-frame of that headline, paired with Reid’s name and the GOP logo, will detonate in mailboxes, newsfeeds, and late-night comedy monologues from now until Election Day.

Many conservatives are perfectly willing to vote for a gay candidate; they will not rally behind a ticket shadowed by explicit, irredeemable imagery. Without a long, stable personal record to blunt the blow—something Reid concedes he lacks—he cannot shield the party from the fallout. His viability vanished the moment “jrdeux” hit the headlines. If Republicans intend to maintain the governor’s mansion and protect their slim congressional edge, they need a new nominee—now.

The brutal fact is this: Reid’s candidacy flat-lined the instant “jrdeux” surfaced. Every hour he remains on the ticket inches Virginia closer to a Democratic trifecta and puts the GOP’s slim U.S.-House majority on life support. This is no longer about one man’s résumé or reputation; it is about the party’s ability to win—period.

The remedy is painfully simple. Reopen the primary. Nominate someone who can stride into every county fair, church supper, and rotary breakfast unburdened by scandal. Reid has served the Commonwealth with energy and skill, but the mission now is larger than any single career. Personal loyalty must yield to electoral survival.

Republicans therefore face a binary choice: either Reid bows out today, or GOP volunteers will spend the summer fielding calls about ads portraying him giving blowjobs in public parks beside an elephant logo. Rural turnout will crater, down-ballot candidates will drown, and November will be a bloodbath. Reid’s resignation is not a moral rebuke; it is the last firewall between the party and catastrophic defeat. For the sake of Virginia—and for the country—he must go now.