Calls mount for Virginia’s lieutenant governor to go

He denies sexually assaulting 2 women; who’d replace him is unclear.

RICHMOND, VA. — Calls were mounting for Virginia’s lieutenant governor to resign Saturday, at the tail end of an astonishing week that saw the state’s top three elected officials — all Democrats — embroiled in potentially career-ending scandals fraught with questions of race, sex and power.

What’s happening

Two women have accused Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax of sexual assault, and he has emphatically denied both allegations. After the second allegation was made Friday, Fairfax — who stands to become the state’s second black governor if Gov. Ralph Northam resigns over a racist photo — was barraged with demands to step down from top Democrats, including a number of presidential hopefuls and most of Virginia’s congressional delegation.

Why it matters

Northam, now a year into his four-year term, announced his intention to stay at a Friday afternoon Cabinet meeting, according to a senior official who was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

In so doing, Northam defied practically the entire Democratic Party, which rose up against him after a racist photo on his 1984 medical school yearbook surfaced and he acknowledged wearing blackface in the 1980s.

The latest

On Saturday, Northam made his first official public appearance since he denied being in the photo. He attended the funeral for a state trooper killed in a shootout. He made no public comments upon arriving in Chilhowie, four hours west of the tumult in Richmond, and wasn’t listed as a speaker in the funeral program.

What’s next

If Fairfax were to leave, there’s no consensus on who could replace him. Northam may try to appoint a Democrat, while Republicans could mount a legal challenge with the goal of having Sen. Steve Newman, the Senate’s pro tem, serve as both a voting senator and temporary lieutenant governor.

Above: If Democrats don’t oust Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, they could anger female voters. But if they push him out, it could trouble black voters.

STEVE HELBER / GETTY IMAGES Left: Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam attends Saturday’s funeral for fallen Virginia state Trooper Lucas B. Dowell at a church in Chilhowie, Virginia.