Virginia leader rejects calls to resign

VIRGINIA’S embattled Democratic governor vowed in an interview yesterday not to resign over revelations that he wore blackface at a 1980s party, as a web of scandals enveloped three top party officials.

A Democratic state lawmaker, meanwhile, said on Twitter that he would not move immediately on his call over the weekend for impeachment proceedings against Virginia’s lieutenant governor, who has been accused of sexually assaulting two women.

Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax denies the charges.

The accusations of racist behavior or sexual assault — hot button issues in a party that has embraced diversity as one of its key messages — targeting the three men including Attorney General Mark Herring have rattled party leadership in a swing state that likely will play a pivotal role in the 2020 US presidential election.

In the unlikely event all three men were to step down, the governorship would pass to the Republican speaker of the state house, which would be a stunning reversal in a state where Democrats have been gaining power in the last few election cycles.

Party leaders in the state and across the nation have now called for Governor Ralph Northam and Fairfax to quit over the separate accusations that have been leveled against them.

(Reuters)