Governor of Virginia yet to resign

RICHMOND, Va. — Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s office put much of the business of governing on hold Tuesday as the Democrat weighed whether he can stay in the job despite the uproar over a racist photo on his 1984 medical school yearbook page.

While Northam gave no public indication of which way he was leaning, a close friend, state Sen. Richard 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 and 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 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 governor said at first that he was in the photo, but a day later he denied he was in the picture but acknowledged he once used shoe polish to blacken his face and look like Michael Jackson at a dance contest.

In the meantime, negotiations between the governor’s office and the Republicans who run the legislature were suspended on one of the busiest days on the legislative calendar. Northam’s office is in the middle of negotiations with the legislature over a major tax overhaul and changes to the budget. Tuesday was “crossover day,” when the House and Senate must finish bills to send to the other chamber.

In another sign of the difficulty he faces, Northam issued a statement Tuesday offering condolences on the killing of a state trooper, only to be met with a flurry of tweets urging him to resign.