The Daily Kos Elections Morning Digest is compiled by David Nir, Jeff Singer, Stephen Wolf, and Carolyn Fiddler, with additional contributions from David Jarman, Steve Singiser, Daniel Donner, James Lambert, David Beard, and Arjun Jaikumar.
Leading Off
●VA-Gov: Virginia’s political turmoil grew even uglier on Wednesday when Attorney General Mark Herring, a Democrat who is second in line for the governorship, admitted to wearing blackface at a party when he was in college in 1980. Hours later, political science professor Vanessa Tyson, who has accused Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax of sexually assaulting her in 2004, released a statement detailing her allegations.
Campaign ActionThe day began with Herring’s statement, in which he said that when he was 19, “some friends suggested we attend a party dressed like rappers we listened to at the time, like Kurtis Blow, and perform a song.” Herring added, “It sounds ridiculous even now writing it. But because of our ignorance and glib attitudes—and because we did not have an appreciation for the experiences and perspectives of others—we dressed up and put on wigs and brown makeup.” The attorney general called the incident a “onetime occurrence” that “clearly shows that, as a young man, I had a callous and inexcusable lack of awareness and insensitivity to the pain my behavior could inflict on others.”
Herring’s admission came just days after a racist photograph from Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam’s 1984 medical school yearbook page surfaced on Friday that showed one man dressed in a KKK robe and hood and another wearing blackface. Virtually every prominent Virginia Democrat, including Herring, called for Northam to resign that very day or soon afterwards. However, Northam has resisted, and the Washington Post reported Tuesday night that he has even considered leaving the Democratic Party and attempting to govern the state as an independent—though the notion of Northam successfully governing anything at this point is unimaginable.