CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) – John Reid, the Republican nominee for lieutenant governor and former conservative radio host, praised his running mate, Winsome Earle-Sears, for her fighting spirit during Thursday night’s gubernatorial debate, but also acknowledged an exchange between Earle-Sears and Democratic nominee for governor Abigail Spanberger highlighted Reid and Earle-Sears disagreement on gay marriage.

“Winsome’s a Marine,” Reid told Cville Right Now on Friday morning. “No one should have expected her to stand there demurely with her fingers crossed and wait for her turn. When she hears something that she cares about, you can expect that she’s going to jump in and be assertive. I think some people love that. Some people didn’t like it. But you saw an assertive leader who’s not going to get rolled.”

Throughout the hour-long debate in Norfolk on Thursday, Earle-Sears – the current lieutenant governor – interrupted Spanberger, spoke out of turn and ignored moderators’ questions and instructions, especially as she pressed Spanberger to disavow herself from the Democrats nominee for attorney general, Jay Jones.

Jones has faced pressure to drop from the race after text messages surfaced in which he expressed that he’d be pleased if former Speaker of the House Todd Gilbert and his family were the victims of gun violence.

“Winsome is very clear that none of us could ever say something as horrific as let’s kill one of our political opponents and their family in order to win over a vote,” Reid said. “While Abigail says, ‘Oh I don’t like that and I chastised Jay,’ the fact that she and everybody else in the Democratic party is still circling the wagons and acting like, ‘It doesn’t matter. We’ll still put him in as attorney general,’ come on. What would be disqualifying?”

Reid acknowledged that Earle-Sears’ demeanor during the debate might not play well with some voters, including many of the moderate, undecided voters she needs to win over to erase the 10-point gap she’s facing in most major state polls.

Still, he praised Earle-Sears for going on the attack Thursday.

“I think the base was rallied last night,” Reid said. “They saw a fighter and that’s what they’re looking for.”

They also saw a dramatic illustration of the biggest policy disagreement between Earle-Sears and Reid, the first openly gay Republican to run for statewide office.

As Spanberger talked about the rights of gays to marry and to be protected against workplace discrimination, Earle-Sears repeatedly yelled over her words, saying “That’s not discrimination.”

“Winsome and I disagree about gay marriage,” Reid said. “Winsome and I have talked about this on a number of occasions and we just don’t agree. That’s not enough for me to leave the party. It’s enough for me to stand up as I have for the last year, advocate for my position and try to change people’s minds. I feel comfortable that if I’m at the capital this will be a watershed moment for the rights of all citizens, including gay citizens, because I have no intention of being quiet and not speaking up for myself and for other people like me in the state. And I’ll be proud to do it as a republican and try to influence Republican supporters, voters and Senators.”

Reid said that while he supports the right for gays to marry, he will not back the Democratic initiative to codify that right at the state level.

“I’m not voting for this Democrat marriage amendment because I think it doesn’t protect religious people,” Reid said. “Even though it hurts my feelings that some people don’t like me or don’t like gay marriage, I still have to protect their rights. There is enough there where I’m proving I’m not going to the capital to do what John Reid wants. I’m going to the capital to protect the rights of every Virginian citizen.”

Reid’s opponent, Sen. Ghazala Hashmi, said Reid’s decision not to support an amendment proposed by Democrats to enshrine marriage rights into the Commonwealth’s constitution shows Reid’s position is murky, at best.

“Winsome Earle-Sears and John Reid will not protect the rights of gay Virginians to marry who they love or to be free from discrimination in the workplace. Virginians deserve better than leaders who support stripping away freedoms and will move our Commonwealth backwards,” Hashmi said in a statement released by her campaign. “As lieutenant governor, I will always fight for John Reid’s right to marriage equality — even if he won’t.”