Via Twitter U.S. Senator Cory Booker called for the resignation of Virginia Lt. Governor Justin Fairfax after a second woman accused Fairfax of sexual assault.
The multiple detailed allegations against the Lt. Gov. of Virginia are deeply troubling. They are serious, credible, and corroborated by others. It is no longer appropriate for him to serve. He should resign.
— Cory Booker (@CoryBooker) February 8, 2019
A second woman has come forward to say that she was raped by Democratic Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax.
Meredith Watson alleged that Fairfax's assault on her was "premeditated and aggressive" when they both attended Duke in 2000 and that the two were friends but not romantically involved, according to a statement from her legal counsel, the firm Smith Mullen.
"Ms. Watson shared her account of the rape with friends in a series of emails and Facebook messages that are now in our possession. Additionally, we have statements from former classmates corroborating that Ms. Watson immediately told friends that Mr. Fairfax had raped her," the statement reads.
Watson is the second woman to accuse Fairfax of sexual assault this week. Vanessa Tyson, a professor in California, released a lengthy statement early this week detailing her alleged encounter with Fairfax during their time at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston.
"Ms. Watson was upset to learn that Mr. Fairfax raped at least one other woman after he attacked her. The details of Ms. Watson's attack are similar to those described by Dr. Vanessa Tyson." Fairfax has previously denied Tyson's allegation.
Watson is not seeking financial damages and has alerted Fairfax through her legal team that she would like him to resign, the statement adds.
Virginia Lieutenant Governor Justin Fairfax is the man who would take over if Governor Northam of Virginia resigned because of a racist yearbook photo in which Northam is in either blackface or wearing a KKK robe. Fairfax released the following statement on the controversy:
Like so many Virginians, I am shocked and saddened by the images in the Governor’s yearbook that came to light yesterday.
They are an example of a painful scourge that continues to haunt us today and holds us back from the progress we need to make.
As we commemorate 400 years since the first enslaved Africans were brought to Virginia, it is painful to experience such a searing reminder of the modern legacy of our nation’s original sin. And, as someone whose great-great-great grandfather was enslaved in Virginia, this episode strikes particularly close to home.
The Governor needed to apologize, and I am glad that he did so. He also reached out to me personally to express his sincere regrets and to apologize.
I have worked closely with Ralph Northam over many years. He has been a friend to me and has treated my family and me with hospitality and respect.
While his career has been marked by service to children, soldiers, and constituents, I cannot condone the actions from his past that, at the very least, suggest a comfort with Virginia’s darker history of white supremacy, racial stereotyping, and intimidation.
At this critical and defining moment in the history of Virginia and this nation, we need leaders with the ability to unite and help us rise to the better angels of our nature.
I remain committed to serving and helping to heal the Commonwealth moving forward. Now more than ever, we must make decisions in the best interests of the people of the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax (D), the only African-American official elected to a statewide position, was the lone protester on Friday during a tribute in the state Senate honoring Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee’s birthday.
Fairfax delegated his typical duties of presiding over the state Senate chamber in Richmond and let Republican state Sen. Richard Stuart lead the tribute.
As a descendant of slaves, Fairfax told The Washington Post that he didn’t believe Lee was someone to honor on the floor of the statehouse.
“I think it’s very divisive to do what was done there, particularly in light of the history that we’re now commemorating — 400 years since the first enslaved Africans came to the commonwealth of Virginia," he said.
“And to do that in this year in particular was very hurtful to a lot of people. It does not move us forward, it does not bring us together. And so I wanted to do my part to make it clear that I don’t condone it,” Fairfax continued.
Democratic Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, the second African-American to serve in that role, stepped off the dais where he presides over the state Senate on Monday when Republicans moved to adjourn in memory of Confederate Gen. Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson.
“It’s a personal decision for me,” Fairfax said afterward. “There are people in Virginia history that I think it’s appropriate to memorialize and remember in that way, and others that I would have a difference of opinion on.”
Fairfax was going to do the same last Friday after learning about plans honoring Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, whose birthday is a state holiday. In the mid-1980s, Virginia began marking Martin Luther King Jr.’s holiday the same as Lee-Jackson-King Day. In 2000, Gov. Jim Gilmore called for separating them.
Fairfax said that when he was sworn into the statewide office on Jan. 13, he kept in his pocket a reproduction of a document freeing members of the Fairfax family in Virginia from slavery in 1798.
“I felt … in honor of my family and in honor of the journey that Virginia has taken and so many others have taken for progress, that I would prefer not to preside over those adjournment motions.”
While much attention was payed to Democratic candidates that won governor's races in both New Jersey and Virginia, two African American candidates also won statewide office. Both Sheila Oliver of New jersey and Justin Fairfax of Virginia were elected as Lieutenant Governors of their prospective states.
Sheila Oliver
New Jersey elected Sheila Oliver as its first female African-American lieutenant governor. Oliver is no stranger to breaking records: She became the first African-American woman to be elected as Assembly speaker in New Jersey and only the second black female speaker in U.S. history.
“This may not be the first glass ceiling I have broken, but it is certainly the highest,” Oliver said during Democrat Phil Murphy’s victory party. “And I hope somewhere in this great state of New Jersey, a young girl of color is watching tonight and realizing that she does not have a limit to how high she can go.”
Justin Fairfax
Democrat Justin Fairfax was elected to become Virginia’s next lieutenant governor. With his victory, the former federal prosecutor will be the second African-American to win statewide in Virginia.
“I am so grateful for this opportunity,” Fairfax said during a statewide victory party, according to WJLA-TV. “We are changing the course of history in this commonwealth.”
Democrat Justin Fairfax, a former federal prosecutor and 2013 attorney general candidate, is running for lieutenant governor in Virginia
.He is the first Democrat to officially jump into the statewide contest, while Republicans already have a crowded field including Sen. Bryce Reeves, R-Spotsylvania, Sen. Jill Holtzman Vogel, R-Fauquier, and Del. Glenn Davis, R-Virginia Beach.
The candidacy of Fairfax, 37, an African American, would inject diversity and an energetic style into a Democratic ticket that includes the comparatively low-key Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam and Attorney General Mark Herring.
“I am passionate about creating and protecting economic security and opportunity for all Virginians,” Fairfax said in a statement. “As a former federal prosecutor, I know just how fragile security and stability for hard-working families can be.”
Read more: Democrat Justin Fairfax to run for lieutenant governor
