Thread by @jmartNYT

NEWS: Northam is calling Va Dems and telling them that’s *not* him in the yearbook photo and he will make a statement this afternoon to say the same. In other words, he is NOT quitting as of right now.

Story TK

The governor has also been calling his former med school classmates to jog their memories. He does NOT think he is the man in Klan hood or blackface and doesn’t want to resign before trying to determine who is in that photo.

What to watch now: do Kaine & Warner move toward demanding he resign if he refuses?

STORY: Northam, hunkered down w advisers, is refusing to quit, making case he does not think it was him in the photo. And he's desperate to prove it, even suggesting he'll use facial recognition software. But some Va Dems say it's too late, he must go >

nytimes.com/2019/02/02/us/…

.@BobbyScott, the dean of the Va delegation, tells me he wants to hear from the governor.

“The facts were fairly straightforward last night,” he said. “So let’s see if there are any new facts”

Scott has stopped just short of calling on Northam to quit last night

The governor is to address the press outside the mansion at 2:30 today.

NEW: Northam told a senior Virginia Democrat this morning that he never selected the photos for the yearbook and, in conversations with med school classmates, he had been told some of the pictures were mixed up across the pages

Warner, Kaine & Scott have all been in touch with each other this am. And they’re getting the same story from Northam: he wants to stay. And so far, none of the three Va Dems are calling on him to resign. If the gov loses them, he will have lost the entire state party structure

RICHMOND, Va —

Legendary @RTDNEWS photog Bob Brown, who has covered his share of Va stories over the decades, is front and center in the mansion

the DGA brackets Northam’s conference:

“The photo of Ralph Northam’s yearbook that surfaced yesterday is both racist and inexcusable,” said Govs. Raimondo and Murphy. “It is time for Gov. Northam to step aside and allow Virginia to move forward.”

Thomas Jefferson’s portrait, just to the right of where Northam will soon address reporters

FIRST WRITE-THRU: Northam is sticking and says it’s not him in the pics. But he may have made his survival even more difficult by admitting to wearing shoe polish at a Michael Jackson-themed party in 80s

nytimes.com/2019/02/02/us/…

Stand by for news: I am told that Virginia’s two senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, as well as Bobby Scott, the dean of the delegation, will issue a statement tonight.

There it is >>>>

“After we watched his press conference today, we called Governor Northam to tell him that we no longer believe he can effectively serve as Governor of Virginia and that he must resign."

Northam has now lost every major Democrat in Virginia. And the folks who wired this statement from Kaine/Warner/Scott are at the highest levels of the state party - the Dems who were once his close allies.

Checked back in with Northam people: they said no changes. He’s sticking despite Kaine/Warner/Scott plea.

FINAL WRITE-THRU: Northam defies calls to resign, plunging Virginia into turmoil and infuriating national Democrats.

From Richmond >

nytimes.com/2019/02/02/us/…

Hard to overstate how old angry and sad Virginia Democrats are: They went to bed last night thinking Northam was going to resign today. That was the indication, they said. But he is determined to prove it’s not him.

Last point, I think, tonight.

2019 is the:

-400th anniversary of slaves be brought to Jamestown
-60th anniversary of Prince Edward County schools closing their doors rather than integrate
-30th anniversary of L. Douglas Wilder becoming Americas first elected black governor