Ralph Northam and Attorney General Mark R. Herring admitted to wearing blackface as young men, Mr. Fairfax on Friday afternoon faced a second detailed assault accusation in three days, transforming what had been a crisis for Virginia Democrats into a searing dilemma for the national party. The political turmoil for Democratic leaders this weekend is unfolding at the intersection of race and gender, and risks pitting the party’s most pivotal constituencies against one another. If Democrats do not oust Mr. Fairfax, at a time when the party has taken a zero-tolerance stand on sexual misconduct in the #MeToo era, they could anger female voters. But the specter of Mr. Fairfax, 39, being pushed out while two older white men remain in office — despite blackface behavior that evoked some of the country’s most painful racist images — would deeply trouble many African-Americans. Ms. Bass said that both Mr. Northam and Mr. Fairfax should step down.

Source: New York Times February 09, 2019 14:03 UTC