Outgoing Virginia attorney general leaves progressive legacy

By MATTHEW BARAKAT
Associated Press

FALLS CHURCH, Va. (AP) — Outgoing Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring is leaving a progressive legacy behind when he steps down Saturday after eight years. Herring started in 2014 by reversing the state’s legal opposition to gay marriage. He wrapped up his term this week by overturning racist legal opinions from predecessors in Virginia’s Jim Crow era. Republican critics fault Herring for twisting the law to suit a liberal agenda. Herring says he followed the law but used his power whenever possible to help ordinary Virginians. The 60-year-old from Loudoun County was noncommittal about his future political plans in an interview with The Associated Press.