Democrats call for Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax to resign over sexual assault allegations

Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax
(Image credit: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

The Democratic Party of Virginia on Saturday called for the resignation of Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax (D) a day after a second woman accused him of sexual assault. "Given the credible nature of the sexual assault claims" against Fairfax, the party statement said, "it has become clear that he can no longer fulfill the duties and responsibilities of his post."

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Prominent Democrats including former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe and Sens. Cory Booker (N.J.), Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.), Kamala Harris (Calif.), and Tim Kaine (Va.) have also called for Fairfax's resignation.

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Fairfax has denied both sexual assault allegations, demanded an investigation into the claims against him, and said he will not leave office.

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Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam is also enmeshed in scandal following the revelation that his 1984 medical school yearbook page contains a photo of a man in blackface and one in Ku Klux Klan robes. The Democratic Party of Virginia, McAuliffe, and a number of congressional Democrats have demanded Northam's resignation as well.

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Bonnie Kristian

Bonnie Kristian was a deputy editor and acting editor-in-chief of TheWeek.com. She is a columnist at Christianity Today and author of Untrustworthy: The Knowledge Crisis Breaking Our Brains, Polluting Our Politics, and Corrupting Christian Community (forthcoming 2022) and A Flexible Faith: Rethinking What It Means to Follow Jesus Today (2018). Her writing has also appeared at Time Magazine, CNN, USA Today, Newsweek, the Los Angeles Times, and The American Conservative, among other outlets.