Ralph Northam

Ralph Shearer Northam (born Septemer 13, 1959) is an American physician and Democratic Party politician, currently serving as the 73rd Governor of Virginia since 2018. Previously, he had served as the state's Lieutenant Governor under Governor Terry McAuliffe and in the state Senate.

A pediactric neurosurgeon outside of politics, Northam served in the United States Army Medical Corps from 1984 to 1992, achieving the rank of Major before his discharge. Prior to his first run for office in 2007, Northam considered himself politically "underinformed", voting for Republican candidate George W. Bush for President in 2000 and 2004. Serving in the state legislature from 2008 to 2014, Northam was elected Lieutenant Governor alongside Terry McAuliffe in 2013. In 2017, Northam was elected Governor of Virginia, as McAuliffe was forbidden from running for consecutive terms under Virginia law, defeating Republican nominee Ed Gillespie. Inaugurated in 2018, Northam has worked to pass legislation such as criminal justice reform. Northam's current term expire in January 2022 and he will be unable to pursue a second consecutive term in the 2021 election.

Northam came under intense public scrutiny in 2019 after photos of men dressed in blackface and a Ku Klux Klan hood were uncovered in his 1984 yearbook, as well as the racial slur "coonman" being listed as one of his nicknames. Resisting calls to step down, Northam pledged to focus on addressing Virginia's racial inequities.