Virginia Beach's GOP Chairman Resigns Over Racist Joke

The head of the GOP in Virginia Beach has heeded calls from both sides to step down over a racist joke he emailed. The district GOP chairman says David Bartholomew forwarded the joke—involving a dog who is "black, unemployed, lazy, can't speak English and has no frigging clue who his Daddy is" seeking welfare benefits—in error when he "was first getting familiar with the Internet," in March this year, the Virginian-Pilot reports.

Bartholomew is "horrified" by the email and is stepping down to avoid being a distraction in the district's House race, the chairman added. GOP candidate Scott Rigell called the email "reprehensible" when he called for Bartholomew's resignation. The liberal blog that published the email followed up with one from another Rigell backer, raising the possibility that its source may provide more before the election, the Washington Post notes.
(More David Bartholomew stories.)