CHARLOTTESVILLE (CVILLE RIGHT NOW) — In what the lieutenant governor candidate said may end up being a highlight of the campaign for him win or lose, Republican John Reid spoke at the University of Virginia on Tuesday, delivering a speech centered on his background and motivations for running before taking questions from the audience on topics like the state of political discourse, attracting businesses to Virginia and how he plans to deliver on his promises even if the Republicans don’t win back the Governor’s Mansion.

Reid spoke in the Rotunda at the invitation of the Jefferson Council, and started his remarks by sharing how a number of his family members went to and “revered” the university.

“I think this might be one of the things my dad would be really excited about,” he said.

While his remarks focused more so on his background and experience, he did take a moment during the Q&A session to acknowledge the latest poll from the Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs at VCU that was released earlier Tuesday, which had his opponent, State Senator Ghazala Hashmi, holding just a one-point lead.

Reid told Cville Right Now after the event that he felt great going into the final two weeks of the campaign, and that he is still looking through his schedule to find place where he could meet independent and Democratic voters who might be willing to vote for him.

“I never take anything for granted,” he said.
”I’ve been around politics my whole life, and you have to always run like you’re 10 points behind with the motivation of closing that gap, and that’s when I want to do for the next 13 days.”

Reid went on to once again criticize Hashmi for not agreeing to a debate, which he also did during the event itself, telling Cville Right Now he believed voters were “deeply offended” by her refusal and will support Reid. He even shared during the event that his campaign had released a video titled “The 2025 Virginia Lieutenant Governor ‘Debate'” earlier in the evening, which had Reid giving his responses to Hashmi’s positions, which were “represented using her own verified quotes, voiced through basic artificial intelligence,” according to a press release from Reid’s campaign.

But while Reid continued to attack Hashmi in the Rotunda, Abigail Spanberger — the Democratic nominee for governor — held her own campaign event on the city’s Downtown Mall. Spanberger held a double-digit lead in most polls for months and, even in the wake of the Jay Jones text message scandal, still holds a seven-point lead over Republican and current Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears.

But down the ballot, Reid and Republican incumbent attorney general Jason Miyares have closed the gap and now leads Jones by three points. Many in their campaigns believe the race for lieutenant governor and attorney general could be a dead-heat at this point.

During his Q&A session, Reid was asked how effective he could be as lieutenant governor if Spanberger were to win the State’s top position. Reid said when considering his run, he asked a number of people, including some Democrats, if running was worth it in the event of a split ticket.

He said the position was important not just because he could provide a tie-breaking vote in an increasingly deadlocked state senate, but because even if he is working under Spanberger, he can still make an impact by traveling and advocating for Virginia, particularly to CEOs who may be interested in bring business to the Commonwealth.

“I think I’m gonna be more effective at selling the state to business people than [Hashmi] will, just to be candid,” he said. “And I do think that it is time for someone to be in the Capitol who is bold and is unafraid.”