Va. AG Mark Herring Says He Wore Blackface at 1980 Party
Herring is the next in line to lead the state after embattled Gov. Ralph Northam and Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax.
February 06, 2019 at 02:38 PM
3 minute read
Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring. (Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi/ALM)
Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring has admitted that he wore ”brown makeup” at a party in 1980, just days after calling on the state's governor to resign in the midst of a scandal involving a blackface photo on the governor's medical school yearbook page.
Herring said in an official statement Wednesday that he attended a party when he was 19 years old at which he and some friends “dressed up and put on wigs and brown makeup.” According to the statement, they did so to look like rappers they listened to at the time.
“In the days ahead, honest conversations and discussions will make it clear whether I can or should continue to serve as attorney general, but no matter where we go from here, I will say that from the bottom of my heart, I am deeply, deeply sorry for the pain that I cause with this revelation,” Herring's statement said.
Before he was elected as attorney general, Herring, of Leesburg, Virginia, was a state senator. He previously practiced law at The Herring Law Firm in Leesburg.
After Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, Herring is next in line for the governorship. Fairfax, meanwhile, is facing sexual assault allegations, which he has vehemently denied.
Fairfax has remained a partner at Morrison & Foerster while fulfilling his duties as lieutenant governor, a post to which he was elected in 2017. The firm has not responded to calls for comment on the allegations against Fairfax.
The next in line for governorship after Herring is Marvin Kirkland “Kirk” Cox, a Republican serving as speaker of the Virginia House of Delegates.
Herring released an official statement Saturday in which he called on Gov. Ralph Northam to resign from his post, after a photo emerged last week from Northam's 1984 medical school yearbook page showing a man dressed in blackface smiling next to someone wearing a Ku Klux Klan outfit.
Northam has denied the photo featured his image, but admitted to darkening his skin in the past while sporting a Michael Jackson costume.
Read More
Woman Claiming Sexual Assault by Justin Fairfax Turns to Lawyers for Kavanaugh Accuser: Reports
Suddenly on Deck for Virginia Governor, MoFo's Justin Fairfax Blasts Assault Allegations
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All
Latham Adds Former Treasury Department Lawyer for Cross-Border Deal Guidance
2 minute read
LSU General Counsel Quits Amid Fracas Over First Amendment Rights of Law Professor
7 minute read
Weil Adds Acting Director of SEC Enforcement, Continuing Government Hiring Streak
3 minute read
Law Firms Expand Scope of Immigration Expertise Amid Blitz of Trump Orders
6 minute readTrending Stories
- 1Eight Years On, A&O Shearman’s Fuse Legal Tech Incubator is Still Evolving
- 2Google Makes Appeal to Overturn Jury Verdict Branding the Play Store as an Illegal Monopoly
- 3First Amendment Litigator Returns to Gibson Dunn
- 4In Record Year for Baker Botts, Revenue Up 11.8%, PEP Up 17.6%
- 5Loopholes, DNA Collection and Tech: Does Your Consent as a User of a Genealogy Website Override Another Person’s Fourth Amendment Right?
Who Got The Work
J. Brugh Lower of Gibbons has entered an appearance for industrial equipment supplier Devco Corporation in a pending trademark infringement lawsuit. The suit, accusing the defendant of selling knock-off Graco products, was filed Dec. 18 in New Jersey District Court by Rivkin Radler on behalf of Graco Inc. and Graco Minnesota. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Zahid N. Quraishi, is 3:24-cv-11294, Graco Inc. et al v. Devco Corporation.
Who Got The Work
Rebecca Maller-Stein and Kent A. Yalowitz of Arnold & Porter Kaye Scholer have entered their appearances for Hanaco Venture Capital and its executives, Lior Prosor and David Frankel, in a pending securities lawsuit. The action, filed on Dec. 24 in New York Southern District Court by Zell, Aron & Co. on behalf of Goldeneye Advisors, accuses the defendants of negligently and fraudulently managing the plaintiff's $1 million investment. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Vernon S. Broderick, is 1:24-cv-09918, Goldeneye Advisors, LLC v. Hanaco Venture Capital, Ltd. et al.
Who Got The Work
Attorneys from A&O Shearman has stepped in as defense counsel for Toronto-Dominion Bank and other defendants in a pending securities class action. The suit, filed Dec. 11 in New York Southern District Court by Bleichmar Fonti & Auld, accuses the defendants of concealing the bank's 'pervasive' deficiencies in regards to its compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act and the quality of its anti-money laundering controls. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Arun Subramanian, is 1:24-cv-09445, Gonzalez v. The Toronto-Dominion Bank et al.
Who Got The Work
Crown Castle International, a Pennsylvania company providing shared communications infrastructure, has turned to Luke D. Wolf of Gordon Rees Scully Mansukhani to fend off a pending breach-of-contract lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 25 in Michigan Eastern District Court by Hooper Hathaway PC on behalf of The Town Residences LLC, accuses Crown Castle of failing to transfer approximately $30,000 in utility payments from T-Mobile in breach of a roof-top lease and assignment agreement. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Susan K. Declercq, is 2:24-cv-13131, The Town Residences LLC v. T-Mobile US, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Wilfred P. Coronato and Daniel M. Schwartz of McCarter & English have stepped in as defense counsel to Electrolux Home Products Inc. in a pending product liability lawsuit. The court action, filed Nov. 26 in New York Eastern District Court by Poulos Lopiccolo PC and Nagel Rice LLP on behalf of David Stern, alleges that the defendant's refrigerators’ drawers and shelving repeatedly break and fall apart within months after purchase. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack, is 2:24-cv-08204, Stern v. Electrolux Home Products, Inc.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250
