Virginia governor weighing his future
RICHMOND, Va. — A political death watch took shape at Virginia’s Capitol as Gov. Ralph Northam consulted with top administration officials Monday about whether to resign amid a furor over a racist photo in his 1984 yearbook.
Practically all of the state’s Democratic establishment — and Republican leaders, too — turned against the 59-year-old Democrat after the picture surfaced late last week of someone in blackface next to another person in a Ku Klux Klan hood and robe. The photo was on Northam’s medical school yearbook page.
The sense of crisis deepened Monday as the politician next in line to be governor, Democratic Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, denied an uncorroborated allegation of sexual misconduct first reported by a conservative website. Fairfax told reporters that the 2004 encounter with a woman was consensual, and he called the accusation a political “smear.”
The Associated Press is not reporting the details of the accusation because AP has not been able to corroborate it. The allegation was first reported by Big League Politics, the news outlet that first published the yearbook image.
Protest chants, meanwhile, echoed around Capitol Square. Lobbyists complained they were unable to get legislators to focus on bills. Security guards joked about who was going to be the next governor. Cafeteria workers and members of the cleaning staff shook their heads in wonder. And banks of news cameras were set up outside the governor’s Executive Mansion. Northam
Northam stayed out of sight as he met with his Cabinet and senior staff to hear their assessment of whether it was feasible for him to stay in office, according to a top administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Calls from lawmakers for Northam’s resignation seemed to ease Monday. State Delegate Lamont Bagby, head of the Legislative Black Caucus, said there was little left to say: “I’m going to let him breathe a little bit, give him space to make the right decision.”
The waiting game played out on what was already one of the legislature’s busiest days of the session.
Finance Secretary Aubrey Layne said he told Northam that the state cannot afford a prolonged period of uncertainty over his future. Northam’s office is in the middle of negotiations with GOP lawmakers over a major tax overhaul and changes to the state budget. The Republicans control both houses of the legislature.
“One way or the other, it needs to be resolved,” Layne said.
The furor over the photo erupted Friday, when Northam first admitted he was in the picture without saying which costume he was wearing and apologized. But a day later, he denied he was in the photo, but also acknowledged he once put on blackface to imitate Michael Jackson at a dance contest in Texas decades ago.
The state’s Republican House speaker said lawmakers are hesitant to seek Northam’s impeachment.
“Obviously on impeachment, that’s a very high standard,” Speaker Kirk Cox said. “And so I think that’s why I think we have called for the resignation.”