Virginia State Sen. Tommy Norment (left) speaks with then-Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam at the Capitol in Richmond in 2014. Norment was the managing editor of Virginia Military Institute's 1968 yearbook, which featured racist images. | AP Photo/Steve Helber Politics Virginia Republican edited yearbook with racist images

A Republican Virginia state senator oversaw a yearbook at the Virginia Military Institute that included racist images and slurs, adding him to the list of scandal-plagued Virginia politicians that has thrust the normally decorous state capital Richmond into a state of tumult.

State Sen. Tommy Norment, a Republican who represents much of the area north of Newport News, served as managing editor of the 1968 yearbook, which featured images of blackface and Confederate battle flags, and contained racist slurs, including the N-word.


The Virginian-Pilot first reported the yearbook's contents.

The revelation comes as the commonwealth's Democratic leadership is reeling over past racist conduct and an allegation of sexual assault.

Gov. Ralph Northam's medical school yearbook page featured a photo of two students, one in a Ku Klux Klan robe and the other in blackface. Northam initially apologized for the image, but during a news conference Saturday, denied being in the photo. He did, however, admit to wearing blackface in a separate incident to imitate Michael Jackson. Northam also attended VMI as an undergraduate and its yearbook labels him with the slur "coonman."

Northam has faced calls for his resignation, but has resisted stepping down.

Days after Northam's blackface scandal emerged, allegations of sexual assault surfaced against Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, who would be next in line for governor if Northam resigned. Fairfax has denied those allegations and suggested they could be politically motivated. The Washington Post, in a report published this week, said it had investigated the allegations against Fairfax but could not find evidence to corroborate either his version of events or his accuser's.

Though unlikely, if both were to resign, that would leave Democratic Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring to ascend to the governorship. But Herring also admitted to and apologized Wednesday for wearing blackface at a party in college, prompting calls for his resignation.

When asked about his role in editing the VMI yearbook, Norment deflected and said that “the only thing I’m talking about today is the budget,” The Virginian-Pilot reported.

Norment later released a statement condemning blackface and arguing that as a member of a staff, he could not be solely associated with every quote and photo in the yearbook. Norment said he didn‘t take or participate in any of the offending photos and endorsed the integration of VMI at the time. He also said he advocated for VMI to admit women in the 1990s.

“With 114 editions of The Bomb available online dating back to 1885,“ Norment wrote, “I am not surprised that those wanting to engulf Republican leaders in the current situations involving the Governor, Lt. Governor, and Attorney General would highlight the yearbook from my graduation a half century ago.”