Virginia Governor Youngkin Apologizes After Mixing Up Black State Senators [View all]
- Sen. Louise Lucas, D-Portsmouth, left, and Sen. Mamie Locke, D-Hampton, right, conferred Feb. 4 in the state Senate.
https://richmond.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/youngkin-apologizes-for-mixing-up-two-black-state-senators/article_91b065f0-fc49-54a3-8ed3-6711aefb24e0.html
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- The Guardian/AP News, Feb. 12, 2022. - Louise Lucas noted she received a text from Glenn Youngkin congratulating her for a speech Mamie Locke gave. -
The Virginia governor, Glenn Youngkin, has apologized after mistaking one Black legislator for another in a text message. Youngkin is the new Republican governor of the state, which has trended Democrat in recent election cycles but stunned observers by picking Youngkin as its new leader last year over a centrist Democrat candidate.
Youngkin issued the apology after Louise Lucas, a state senator, called attention to the mistake on Twitter. She noted that she received a text message from Youngkin congratulating her for a floor speech connected to Black History Month. But it was another African American woman, Mamie Locke, who gave the speech, not Lucas.
On Friday, Lucas sent out a tweet with pictures of herself and Locke, saying: Study the photos and you will get this soon!
Lucas told the Washington Post that she initially planned to keep Youngkins gaffe private but reconsidered after a bitter debate between Youngkin, a Republican, and Senate Democrats over their refusal to confirm former Environmental Protection Agency administrator Andrew Wheeler as the states secretary of natural and historic resources.
When Lucas responded privately to Youngkins text message earlier in the week informing him of the mistaken identity, Youngkin responded with an apology, according to the Post: Goodness . so sorry about the confusion, he wrote in a text response. I will send her a note. Thanks for the note back!...
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/feb/12/glenn-youngkin-apology-black-state-senators-louise-lucas-mamie-locke