Ofirah Yheskel, who served as the communications director for the embattled Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D.) as recently as last week, will be joining the presidential campaign of Robert "Beto" O'Rourke as the deputy communications director for states.
Yheskel, who served as Northam's press secretary during his 2017 gubernatorial campaign, was later promoted to communications director in his administration. She was instrumental in the communications strategy after Northam's medical school yearbook page surfaced in early February, showing a man in blackface and a man in a Ku Klux Klan outfit.
Northam apologized for the picture initially after it was released, saying he was "sorry for the decision I made to appear as I did in this photo." However, he then denied he was in the picture during a press conference the following day.
"I believe then and now that I am not either of the people in that photo," Northam said. "I recognize that many people will find this difficult to believe."
Despite most of the 2020 candidates calling on Northam to resign following the report on the racist yearbook page, he refused to step down and said he wanted to regain the trust of Virginians on race relations. One of his first strategies after the scandal was taking a "harder line" on Confederate monuments, saying, "If there are statues, if there monuments out there that provoke this type of hatred and bigotry, they need to be in museums."
Yheskel defended Northam as communications director following the scandal, saying Northam "has really been serious about living out the commitment he made to tackle these issues head-on," referring to his decision to hire a senior-level director to focus on diversity issues.
In addition to Yheskel, O'Rourke's presidential campaign hired three other staffers to build up the communications team, including Rachel Thomas, who served as an aide to former Virginia governor Terry McAuliffe (D.), and Aleigha Cavalier, who served as the communications director for Tom Steyer's NextGen America.
"Ofirah, Rachel, Aleigha and Anna bring a broad range of experiences from campaigns and organizations that will allow us to lift up the stories and ideas of people across America and empower every voter to have a stake in their future," said O'Malley Dillon, O'Rourke's campaign manager."
Four days after the yearbook page was released, O'Rourke said Northam "should resign." Cavalier, who will be O'Rourke's national press secretary, was also critical of Northam and his "ego" and "stupidity."
"Cannot imagine what it feels to be a black Virginian and have to watch this shitshow," Cavalier tweeted. "Also thinking of Northam’s staff who had to execute on a strategy driven seemingly by their bosses’ stupidity and ego rather than morals or the will of the people he was elected to serve."