PHOTOS: Meet Justin Fairfax, Virginia’s New Lieutenant Governor
Virginia Lieutenant Governor-elect Justin Fairfax was sworn in on Saturday, Jan. 18. He's the first African-American man elected to statewide office in the state since 1989. Scroll to meet Fairfax and his family.
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Justin Fairfax for Lieutenant Governor
The lieutenant governor can cast tie-breaking votes in Virginia's closely divided state Senate.
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Justin Fairfax for Lieutenant Governor
Justin Fairfax, and his mom, Cherlene Fairfax. The lieutenant governor-elect was born in 1979. Cherlene Fairfax would go on to send her four children to college and two on to law school.
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Justin Fairfax for Lieutenant Governor
After his parents divorced, Fairfax moved with his three older siblings and mom into his grandparents' house in Washington, D.C., according to his website.
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Justin Fairfax for Lieutenant Governor
Fairfax's maternal grandfather, Charles D. Butler, served in World War II.
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Justin Fairfax for Lieutenant Governor
Alcynthia Butler, Fairfax's grandmother, pictured here in a nurse's uniform. In a Facebook post, he credited his grandmother as "the reason why I pay back a spiritual debt through public service and why I choose hope, optimism, courage, kindness, education, hard work, achievement, inclusion, positivity, service, and love over the alternatives."
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Justin Fairfax for Lieutenant Governor
Fairfax won a scholarship to attend Duke University, where he studied public policy. Above, Fairfax shows enduring Duke pride with his children and wife, who also graduated from the school.
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Justin Fairfax for Lieutenant Governor
Fairfax attended Columbia Law School, where he also worked on the "Columbia Law Review."
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Justin Fairfax for Lieutenant Governor
Fairfax is married to Cerina Fairfax, who also attended Duke University, according to her workplace biography.
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Justin Fairfax for Lieutenant Governor
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Justin Fairfax for Lieutenant Governor
Cerina Fairfax is a practicing dentist in Fairfax, Virginia.
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Justin Fairfax for Lieutenant Governor
The couple has been married for over 10 years and has two children, 8-year-old Cameron (right) and his younger sister, Carys.
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Justin Fairfax for Lieutenant Governor
Cerina Fairfax says she loves running with her Vizsla dogs.
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Justin Fairfax for Lieutenant Governor
Cameron looks a lot like the younger version of his dad!
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Justin Fairfax for Lieutenant Governor
Lieutenant Governor is Fairfax's first elected position. He launched a campaign for attorney general in 2013, but lost in the primary to challenger Mark Herring. He also served a two-year stint as a federal prosecutor in Alexandria.
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Justin Fairfax for Lieutenant Governor
Fairfax was a vocal critic of President Donald Trump after the 2016 election. During the campaign for lieutenant governor, he challenged opponent Republican Jill Vogel over her support of the president.
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Justin Fairfax for Lieutenant Governor
Fairfax won his seat with 52 percent of the vote. Fellow democrat Ralph Northam won the governor's seat with nearly 54 percent of the vote.
