Justin Edward Fairfax (February 17, 1979 – April 16, 2026) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 41st lieutenant governor of Virginia from 2018 to 2022. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the second African American to be elected to statewide office in Virginia, after Douglas Wilder. In 2019, he faced sexual assault allegations dating to 2000 and 2004, resulting in his departure from his law firm and calls for his resignation as lieutenant governor. He served out the remainder of his term.
Fairfax was a Democratic candidate for governor of Virginia in the 2021 election. He finished fourth in the Democratic primary with 3.54% of the vote. On the morning of April 16, 2026, Fairfax fatally shot his wife, Cerina Fairfax, before killing himself in a murder–suicide.
Early life and career Justin Edward Fairfax was born on February 17, 1979, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He moved with his family from Pittsburgh to Northeast Washington, D.C., when he was five years old. One of four children, Fairfax graduated from DeMatha Catholic High School in Hyattsville, Maryland, where he was senior class president.Patrick Wilson, How outsider Justin Fairfax broke through the Democratic Party in bid for lieutenant governor , Richmond Times-Dispatch (March 18, 2017).
Fairfax graduated from Duke University in 2000,Fenit Nirappil, Justin Fairfax's journey from party crasher to party insider , Washington Post (October 10, 2017). with a degree in public policy.Andrew Cain, Justin Fairfax running as Democrat for lieutenant governor, Richmond Times-Dispatch (May 2, 2016). After serving on the staff of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee for two years, Fairfax attended Columbia Law School, where he graduated with a Juris Doctor in 2005 and was a member of the Columbia Law Review.
Fairfax's ancestors were enslaved by the Lords Fairfax of Cameron, for whom Fairfax County, Virginia, is named. His ancestor, Simon Fairfax, was freed by Thomas Fairfax, 9th Lord Fairfax of Cameron, who manumitted his slaves as part of his Swedenborgian beliefs. Justin Fairfax was presented with a copy of the manumission document by his father on the day he was sworn in as Virginia's lieutenant governor in 2018. Fairfax's eldest brother, Roger Jr., is a legal scholar and Dean of Howard University Law School.
Career Fairfax was a briefing coordinator for Tipper Gore during the 2000 presidential campaign of Al Gore, in the campaign's Nashville, Tennessee, office.Matthew Barakat, Democrat Justin Fairfax wins lieutenant governor's race, Associated Press (November 7, 2017). He was also a staffer for Democratic senator John Edwards of North Carolina, in his Washington office.
Over the summer of 2004, he joined the John Kerry presidential campaign, as a body man for Edwards, then the vice presidential candidate.
He then served as law clerk to Judge Gerald Bruce Lee of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in 2005. He worked in the Washington office of the law firm WilmerHale before joining the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia in 2010. Fairfax worked for two years as a federal prosecutor in Alexandria, Virginia. He served as deputy coordinator of the Northern Virginia Human Trafficking Task Force during this time.Scott Shenk, Vogel, Fairfax in tight race for lieutenant governor , Free Lance-Star (October 29, 2017).
Fairfax ran for public office for the first time in 2013, seeking the Democratic nomination for state attorney general. He lost to Mark Herring, but surprised party insiders with his strong performance in the primary. Herring defeated Fairfax by about 4,500 votes out of 141,600 cast in a closer-than-expected race. The Washington Posts editorial board praised both candidates during the primary, but endorsed Fairfax, writing that he had displayed "an agile and impressive command of the issues with a prosecutor's passion for justice."
After the race, Fairfax co-chaired the 2014 reelection campaign of U.S. Senator Mark Warner from Virginia. The following year, he was recruited to work at the law firm of Venable LLP, in the firm's Tysons, Virginia, office. Fairfax then worked for Morrison & Foerster, a law firm where he made partner in September 2018. In July 2019, following sexual assault allegations against him, Fairfax announced that he was resigning from Morrison & Foerster, which had accepted his resignation.
Fairfax was a visitor at Duke University's Sanford School of Public Policy from 2008 to 2014 and again beginning in 2015. On February 8, 2019, the school's dean, Judith Kelley, asked Fairfax to step down while pending the resolution of the allegations.
Lieutenant Governor of Virginia Campaign
In 2017, Fairfax ran for Lieutenant Governor of Virginia. In the Democratic primaries, he faced Gene Rossi, a federal prosecutor, who had trained Fairfax when they worked together in Alexandria's Eastern District federal court, and Susan Platt, a political lobbyist and consultant, who had served as chief of staff to Joe Biden in the 1990s. Platt had also run Virginia Senator Chuck Robb's 1994 re-election campaign and Don Beyer's unsuccessful 1997 gubernatorial campaign.
Citing their unease with Dominion Energy's planned construction of the Atlantic Coast Pipeline, all three candidates in the Democratic primary pledged to refuse campaign contributions from Dominion Energy, despite the company being the largest contributor to Virginia political campaigns for both Republicans and Democrats. Although early polling showed Platt in the lead, Fairfax significantly outraised both of his opponents and proved victorious in the primary election, carrying about 49% of the vote.
Fairfax then faced Republican nominee Jill Vogel, a state senator from Fauquier County, in the general election. Fairfax and Vogel raised comparable amounts of money for their campaigns—$3.9 million and $3.7 million, respectively.Patricia Sullivan, Democrats Fairfax, Herring win Virginia lieutenant governor, attorney general races, Washington Post (November 7, 2017). A forum between Fairfax and Vogel was held at Piedmont Virginia Community College on August 9, 2017 and a debate between the two candidates was held at the University of Richmond on October 5.
Noting that Fairfax had been largely unknown when he ran for attorney general four years earlier, The Washington Post wrote that Fairfax had transitioned from "party crasher" to "party insider" in the time since, having "methodically done the work necessary to raise his profile and pay dues." The Washington Post went on to endorse Fairfax in the race, calling him "bright, competent, well-versed" and "the much better choice".The Post's endorsements in Virginia , Washington Post (October 18, 2017).
Fairfax's opposition to the Atlantic Coast and Mountain Valley pipelines led to him being omitted from a small number of campaign flyers that were distributed by the campaign for Democratic gubernatorial nominee Ralph Northam. These flyers were released at the request of Laborers' International Union of North America (LIUNA), which supports the pipeline – LIUNA had endorsed Northam (and Northam's running mate for attorney general, Mark Herring, who was included on the flyer), but not Fairfax. As Fairfax was black, while Northam and Herring are both white, some activists criticized the Northam campaign's decision to accommodate LIUNA's request.
Fairfax responded to the controversy by saying, "This should not have happened, and it should not happen again, and there needs to be robust investment in making sure that we are communicating with African American voters and we are engaging our base." The Fairfax campaign later remarked that the Democratic ticket was "working well together", adding "One piece of literature does not change that." All houses that received the LIUNA flyers also received standard campaign flyers including Fairfax.
In the final days of the campaign, former Virginia governor Douglas Wilder weighed in on the flyer controversy, saying that Fairfax had not "been dealt a good hand". Wilder endorsed Fairfax, but never endorsed Northam. As the election drew to a close, Fairfax and Vogel aired attack ads against each other.Patrick Wilson, Vogel, Fairfax close their race for lieutenant governor with attack ads, Richmond Times-Dispatch (November 4, 2017).
Fairfax won the election by 5.5%. He became only the second African-American in Virginia history to be elected to statewide office (the first being Douglas Wilder, who served as governor, as well as lieutenant governor).Mabinty Quarshie, Virginia elects second African-American to statewide office, first Latinas to state house , USA Today (November 7, 2017).
Tenure
During his time in office, Fairfax's role as the lieutenant governor of Virginia was part-time. Fairfax announced in December 2017 that he was leaving his law firm, Venable. His law partner at Venable, Larry Roberts, served as his campaign chairman during the election and later served as his chief of staff. In September 2018, Fairfax joined the law firm of Morrison & Foerster, continuing the historic practice of Virginia lieutenant governors maintaining employment while in office.Laura Vozzella, Like part-timers before him, Virginia's lieutenant governor gets a gig on the side , Washington Post (September 4, 2018). Fairfax became the first head of the Democratic Lieutenant Governors Association (DLGA), which was launched in August 2018.
On January 19, 2019, Fairfax protested a tribute in the state Senate honoring Confederate General Robert E. Lee's birthday. "History repeats itself," Fairfax tweeted. "I will be stepping off the dais today in protest of the Virginia Senate honoring Robert E. Lee...I'll be thinking of this June 5, 1798, manumission document that freed my great-great-great grandfather Simon Fairfax from slavery in Virginia. #WeRiseTogether."
Sexual assault allegations
In early February 2019, Big League Politics reported that Fairfax had been accused by Vanessa C. Tyson, an associate professor at Scripps College and fellow at Stanford University, of sexual assault at a hotel at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston. Tyson said she had suppressed memories of the event but began telling close friends about it when she saw pictures of Fairfax running for lieutenant governor in 2017.
Tyson first approached The Washington Post with her allegation after Fairfax won election in November 2017, but the Post said that it decided not to run the story because it could not corroborate the story or find similar incidents in Fairfax's past. Tyson also approached a friend, Virginia Congressman Bobby Scott, with the allegation around the same time, but Scott declined to act on it. According to The New York Times, at least six friends of Tyson reported that she told them about the alleged assault between 2017 and 2018 but she had no real time corroboration from 2004.
Fairfax denied the accusation, saying his encounter with Tyson was consensual and the timing of the reports was intended to smear him; beginning February 1, after the discovery of a racist photo on Ralph Northam's medical school yearbook, there had been widespread calls for Northam to resign and let Fairfax become Governor of Virginia. Fairfax also insinuated that supporters of Northam, or someone connected with Richmond mayor Levar Stoney, a potential political rival since both were speculated as possible Democratic candidates for governor in 2021, may have been behind the allegation going public.