Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax, the state’s second-highest elected official, faces impeachment proceeding after being accused of sexual crimes
Virginia Governor Ralph Northam made his first public appearance on Saturday since defying calls a week ago to step down over a racist yearbook photograph, as his potential successor, a fellow Democrat, faced growing pressure over sexual assault allegations.
Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax, the state’s second-highest elected official, faces the prospect of impeachment proceedings at the hands of another Democrat next week after two women separately accused him of sexual crimes, including rape.
Fairfax has denied both claims and called them a “coordinated smear campaign”. He has been as defiant as Northam in refusing to step down. Northam’s own troubles began when a racist image from his medical school yearbook went public on February 1.
After staying out of sight since he faced the press on February 2 to deny he was pictured in a blatantly racist photo on his yearbook page, but admitting that he had worn blackface on another occasion, Northam, 59, returned to the public eye to attend the funeral of a slain state trooper.
Before leaving for the service in Chilhowie, a small town in the state’s rural southwest corner, Northam doubled down on his determination to stay in office, pledging to promote racial reconciliation in the remaining three years of his term.
