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Article snippet: All three of Virginia’s statewide elected leaders are fighting to save their political lives in the midst of a rapidly evolving series of crises that threatens both their own survival and their party’s electoral chances later this year. In a state saddled by racial tensions after centuries of slavery and generations of Jim Crow, both Gov. Ralph Northam (D) and Attorney General Mark Herring (D) face calls for their resignations after admitting they donned blackface in the 1980s. Separately, Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, who is black, on Wednesday faced detailed allegations of sexual assault from 2004. The tempest began with a racist photograph that appeared on Northam’s medical school yearbook page. Northam initially apologized, then denied he was in the photograph, while at the same time acknowledging that he wore blackface to a dance contest for which he dressed up as Michael Jackson. By Monday, the storm swirled around Fairfax, who denied allegations he sexually assaulted a woman at the Democratic National Convention in Boston in 2004. A Stanford fellow on Wednesday offered a detailed account of an encounter she said was nonconsensual, deepening the controversy for Fairfax. Also on Wednesday, Herring admitted that, like Northam, he too had worn blackface while in college, when he dressed up as a rapper for a party. The three Democrats, elected together in 2017, showed little of the unity that marked their ascension to power. Fairfax insinuated that the allegations a... Link to the full article to read more