Sneak Peek: Tomorrow’s Breaking Battlegrounds episode features Chuck Warren in conversation with John Reid — Republican candidate for lieutenant governor in Virginia — as he makes his final push ahead of next week’s election.

With just five days until Virginians head to the polls, John Reid says the race for lieutenant governor isn’t just about party politics — it’s about restoring common sense to Richmond.

In a candid conversation with Breaking Battlegrounds host Chuck Warren, Reid laid out his vision for a Virginia that puts working families first and revives the optimistic, grounded conservatism of Ronald Reagan.

A former broadcaster and lifelong conservative, Reid has spent the campaign highlighting the economic and moral divide he sees between Virginia’s two parties. He argues that Democrats like his opponent Ghazala Hashmi and Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger have moved far to the left while continuing to present themselves as moderates. In his view, their policies — from tax priorities to spending decisions — no longer align with the values or needs of everyday Virginians.

Reid points to taxes as one of the clearest examples. He’s long advocated for eliminating what he calls “the most hated tax in Virginia” — the car tax — and says Democrats’ refusal to provide even temporary gas tax relief during the pandemic showed just how out of touch their leadership had become. While essential workers struggled with rising fuel costs, the opportunity to offer short-term relief was ignored.

That experience, Reid says, reflects a broader truth: Republicans are focused on working people, while Democrats remain tied to ideological agendas that burden them.

His political outlook was shaped early in his career — working in California as Ronald Reagan’s last press aide after the president left the White House. That experience, Reid recalls, reinforced his belief in personal responsibility, fiscal discipline, and a government that serves, rather than controls, the people.

As Chuck Warren noted during their exchange, Reid’s campaign channels a distinctly Reagan conservative approach: calm, principled, and focused on solutions over rhetoric. With just days left before the election, that message could prove decisive for voters seeking balance and clarity in Virginia’s leadership.

For Reid, the path forward is simple — less government interference, more trust in people, and policies that honor the hard work and values of Virginians.

Transcript

Chuck Warren: I want to go back to your debate that I rudely interrupted you about when you were getting into it. But how, don’t voters realize this about her? I mean, she’s doing the things that basically elected Glenn Youngkin. What are voters not getting out there?

John Reid: You know, both Abigail Spanberger and Ghazala Hashmi, my opponent, I mean, they’re, they are from the radical wing of the Democrat party, every leftist idea they have embraced. And yet they go out and pretend that they’re somehow moderates and it’s incumbent upon me and, you know, win some Sears to expose those differences. We want to get rid of the car tax, which is the most hated tax in Virginia.

I used to advocate during COVID, giving everybody a break for at least three or four months from the gas tax here in Virginia. Because while the rest of the society was working from home, quote unquote, in their underpants, in their living room, on computers, the real working people of Virginia still had to get their truck and the prices were through the roof. But the Democrats refused to even give them a break on the gas tax for three or four months.

This is the prime example of the difference between the modern Republican party which I would argue is looking out for the working people. It is one of the reasons Donald Trump did so well for them. And the Democrats who were beholden to a leftist set of policy agenda items, which are not looking out for the working people. They’re really kind of oppressive and don’t match up with them moral equation that lot of Virginians believe in.

**Chuck Warren: **So going back to the debate and folks again we’re with John Reed. He is a Republican running for lieutenant governor in Virginia. If you have family or friends in Virginia make sure they get out and vote for John. He’s a common sense conservative, Reagan conservative. So all those who moan and groan about Trump realize that you got a Reagan conservative there as well.

**John Reid: **I actually worked for the man. Out in California after he left the White House, I was his last press aide. Were you really? Yeah, it was an amazing job. Didn’t pay anything. I was 22 years old at the time. But when I talk about being a Reagan conservative, that’s what I mean.

**Chuck Warren: **I feel there’s a book in there somewhere. with John Reid, who’s going to write a book on his last, being Ronald Reagan’s last press aide.

🎧 Catch the full conversation on Breaking Battlegrounds TOMORROW — Election Day is just 5 days away.