Va. governor discussing options
Northam resists resignation calls as state in limbo
RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s office put much of the business of governing on hold Tuesday as the Democrat privately weighed whether he can stay in the job despite the uproar over a racist photo on his 1984 medical school yearbook page.
While Northam himself gave no public indication of which way he was leaning, a close friend, Republican state Sen. Richard Stuart, said he is convinced the governor won’t resign.
He said Northam told him he felt a responsibility to stay in office and make amends.
Northam was conferring with top advisers about whether he can govern effectively in light of the turmoil over the photo, which depicts someone in blackface standing next to another person in a Ku Klux Klan hood and robe. The picture, which surfaced Friday, set off a barrage of calls from his own party for his resignation.
In the meantime, negotiations between the governor’s office and the Republicans who run the legislature were suspended on what was otherwise one of the busiest days on the legislative calendar. Northam wasn’t making any of the public appearances he does almost every weekday. The regular economic development announcement emails have stopped.
With uncertainty hanging over state government, former allies were growing impatient.
State Sen. Louise Lucas, a prominent African-american lawmaker who has pressed for Northam to step down, said the governor doesn’t need to take a few more days to make up his mind.
“I am so praying that he will do that and get it behind us,” Lucas said. “What’s a little bit more of time going to do for us?”
In another sign of the difficulty he faces in carrying out his duties, Northam issued a statement Tuesday offering condolences on the killing of a state trooper in a shootout, only to be met with a flurry of Twitter comments urging him to resign.
Stuart, a GOP conservative who gave a floor speech honoring the life of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee this year, said he spoke to Northam on Tuesday.
“No question in my mind,” said Stuart, who came into the Senate with Northam in 2008 and has gone fishing with him. “I firmly believe he is going to do what is right and face this head-on.”
Northam’s office is in the middle of negotiations with the legislature over a major tax overhaul and changes to the state budget. Tuesday was “crossover day,” when the House and Senate must finish bills to send to the other chamber.