Kaine calls for Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax to resign

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) is joining calls for Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax (D) to resign after a second woman accused him of sexual assault, adding pressure on the top Virginia Democrat to step aside.

“Lieutenant Governor Fairfax should resign. The allegations against him detail atrocious crimes, and he can no longer effectively serve the Commonwealth. We cannot ever ignore or tolerate sexual assault,” Kaine said in a statement Friday night.

Various members of Congress from Virginia and the Commonwealth’s Democratic Party have called on the state’s lieutenant governor to resign after a woman came forward on Friday to accuse him of raping her in 2000 while both were students at Duke University.{mosads}

Fairfax on Friday denied the allegation from Meredith Watson, and he has also denied allegations from Vanessa Tyson, who earlier this week accused him of forcing her to perform oral sex in 2004.

Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) stopped short of calling for Fairfax to immediately resign on Friday night, but said he should step down if the most recent allegations are “accurate.”

“If these allegations concerning Lieutenant Governor Fairfax are accurate, then they are clearly disqualifying and he must resign,” Warner said in a statement.

“Sexual assault is never acceptable, and survivors of violence and harassment deserve to be heard,” Warner said.

Fairfax has called for an investigation into the assault allegations, while a member of the Virginia House of Delegates has said he will introduce articles of impeachment if Fairfax does not resign before Monday.