Fewer than half of Virginians favored any of the state’s three embattled executive branch leaders resigning from office as they deal with separate scandals, the poll found.

A plurality of 44 percent said Gov. Ralph Northam (D) should not resign over a racist incident from his past, while 41 percent said he should go and 16 percent had no opinion.

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Attorney General Mark R. Herring (D) had the broadest margin of support, with 49 percent favoring him remaining in office despite admitting his own racist incident, compared with 33 percent who said he should resign and 19 percent with no opinion.

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Northam initially took responsibility on Feb. 1 for a photo on his 1984 medical school yearbook page showing one person in blackface and another in Ku Klux Klan robes. The next day, he said he wasn’t in the photo but admitted that he darkened his face to imitate Michael Jackson for a dance contest that same year.

Virginia’s Democratic Party, its Democrats in Congress and the state’s Legislative Black Caucus, as well as 2020 Democratic presidential hopefuls, have called on Northam to resign, but he has resisted and pledged to commit the remaining three years of his term to alleviating racial inequity.

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The poll found that only 32 percent of Virginians approve of Northam’s performance as governor, down from 54 percent in a similar poll in August. Thirty-nine percent had an unfavorable view.

Herring, after calling on Northam to step down, admitted his own blackface incident, saying he darkened his face to imitate a rapper at a college party in 1980. Democratic officials have resisted urging him to resign.

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The Roanoke College poll found that 54 percent of Virginians say having worn blackface does not disqualify someone from holding elective office.

Virginians’ view of Fairfax was different from other recent polls conducted at a similar time. A Quinnipiac University poll completed Feb. 14-18 found registered voters evenly split on whether the lieutenant governor should resign. A University of Virginia/Ipsos poll that finished the next day found that 35 percent favored resignation, with 25 percent saying he should stay in office and 40 percent with no opinion.

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One woman has accused Fairfax of sexually assaulting her at the Democratic National Convention in Boston in 2004. A second woman has accused him of sexually assaulting her while at Duke University in 2000. Fairfax has said both encounters were consensual and has asked for law enforcement officials to investigate. Both women said they were prepared to testify publicly about the allegations.

Republican leaders of the House of Delegates have promised to hold a public hearing to take testimony from all three parties, but Democrats have objected and no date has been scheduled.