É«¶à¶à

"My decision is not to split the ticket but to save it," Curran said in a statement, apparently referring to the controversy over John Reid, the party's nominee for lieutenant governor.

He added: "This decision is not about my opponent being gay."

In response to Curran's announcement, Reid's campaign said in a statement: "Who?"

Reid, a longtime conservative radio announcer in Richmond, became the GOP nominee for lieutenant governor April 21 when Fairfax County Supervisor Pat Herrity dropped out of the contest due to health reasons. 

On April 25, Youngkin called Reid and asked him to drop out of the contest, citing explicit photos that Reid denied reposting on social media. Reid refused to leave the contest and accused the governor's political operation of trying to engineer "a coup against a gay man."

Youngkin and Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, the party's nominee for governor, subsequently said the decision about whether to stay in the race is up to Reid. Youngkin has said .

The state GOP said Curran, a Navy veteran and James City County businessman, did not turn in the required 10,000 signatures with at least 400 from each of the 11 congressional districts to qualify for the primary. His write-in campaign is for the general election, where he will face Reid and .

Sen. Mark Peake, R-Lynchburg, chairman of the state GOP, said he is enthusiastically supporting Reid and that Curran is going to get "almost zero support."

"John Curran couldn't even get on the ballot," Peake said. "He failed miserably ... To run as a write-in is just sad."

Write-in candidates historically do not succeed in statewide races.

In September 2018, Earle-Sears mounted a write-in campaign for U.S. Senate, citing GOP nominee Corey Stewart’s support of the Confederate flag. Earle-Sears got less than 1% of the vote.

Democrats will pick one of six candidates as their nominee for lieutenant governor in the June 17 primary.