COTONOU, Benin (AP) — Benin 's Constitutional Court on Thursday confirmed the presidential election victory of Finance Minister Romuald Wadagni in the West African country's weekend election.
Wadagni, 49, a political protege of outgoing President Patrice Talon, was declared the winner of Sunday's election with 94.27% of the votes, with Paul Hounkpè, his opponent, garnering only 5.73%. The voter turnout was 63.57%, according to the court. The opposition candidate has five days to file any appeals before the court announces the final results.
Analysts had expected a huge win for Wadgani given the support of Talon, who is leaving office after ruling the country for 10 years. Talon has been accused of restricting the opposition leading up to the election.
Renaud Agbodjo, leader of the Democrats, the main opposition party, was not able to compete in the election after being unable to secure necessary parliamentary approval under a new law that the opposition says was designed to restrict the playing field.
Wadagni will have to confront growing insurgency in the northern region of the country. Last year, a group of soldiers mounted a failed coup attempt to overthrow Talon.
FILE - Presidential candidate Romuald Wadagni greets supporters at a campaign rally in Cotonou, Benin, Friday, April 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Abadjaye Justin Sodogandji, File)
ANNANDALE, Va. (AP) — Court records show that former Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax was facing a court-ordered deadline to move out of his family’s home before police say he killed his his wife and then himself.
Police say officers found the bodies of Fairfax and his wife, Dr. Cerina Fairfax, at the home early Thursday in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Annandale. A Virginia judge in March told Justin Fairfax he had to move out by the end of April amid what police say was a messy divorce.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.
ANNANDALE, Va. (AP) — Former Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, a rising star in the Democratic Party before his career was derailed by sexual assault allegations six years ago, killed his wife before killing himself, police said Thursday.
Fairfax, 47, and his wife, Dr. Cerina Fairfax, 49, were found dead in their home in the Washington, D.C., suburb of Annandale after their son called 911 shortly after midnight, Fairfax County Police Chief Kevin Davis said.
The couple appeared to be going through a messy divorce but still living in the same house with their two teenage children, who were home when the deaths occurred, he said.
Cerina Fairfax said in court filings that they separated nearly two years ago and that she filed for divorce last summer.
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story includes discussion of suicide. If you or someone you know needs help, the national suicide and crisis lifeline in the U.S. is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org
Justin Fairfax was recently served with paperwork telling him when next to appear in court, Davis said. In January, officers went to the home after Justin Fairfax alleged that his wife had assaulted him, he said.
“Apparently, Mrs. Fairfax, at some point during these divorce proceedings, set up a lot of cameras inside the home. We reviewed those cameras, and we corroborated that the alleged assault never occurred,” Davis said.
The couple, who met as undergraduates at Duke University, married in 2006. Cerina Fairfax ran a family dentistry practice. She also attended the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Dentistry, which honored her in 2015 as an outstanding alumna.
A profile page on her office website described her as an avid reader who liked to travel, practice yoga, go on trail runs with her Vizsla-breed dogs, and “spend time with her wonderful family.”
“It’s very sad for this community,” Davis said. “A lot of people who know the Fairfax family, everybody’s shocked. We’re shocked.”
For a brief period in 2019, Justin Fairfax seemed poised to become Virginia's second Black governor as Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam became engulfed in a scandal over a racist photo in his medical school yearbook that led to calls for his resignation. Fairfax would have automatically become governor if Northam had stepped down.
But then two women came forward accusing Fairfax of sexually assaulting them years earlier. He adamantly denied the allegations, saying they were part of a smear campaign. He was never charged.
An aide to Democratic vice presidential nominee John Edwards said Fairfax sexually assaulted her during the Democratic National Convention in 2004. Two days after she came forward, another woman accused him of raping her in 2000, when they were students at Duke.
Fairfax said the encounters were consensual and refused calls to resign. He later tried to run for governor in 2021, but was largely shunned by Virginia Democrats and defeated in the Democratic primary.
Court filings show that Fairfax had financial challenges following the sexual assault allegations, which prompted his resignation as a partner at a prestigious law firm. The IRS filed a lien against the couple for more than $91,000 in unpaid taxes that was resolved in 2021.
A former federal prosecutor and civil litigator, Fairfax first unsuccessfully sought the Democratic nomination for attorney general in 2013, then won the race for lieutenant governor in 2017.
While he was running for attorney general, he praised his wife for her support and said he had left his job to seek office with her backing. “She’s the rock upon which we have built this family and this campaign,” he said.
The deaths stunned political leaders throughout the state.
“We are keeping Cerina and Justin Fairfax’s family — especially their two children — in our prayers as we all process this shocking and horrifying news,” Virginia’s Democratic U.S. senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, said in a joint statement.
Fairfax had served as co-chair for Warner’s 2014 reelection campaign.
Virginia's Democratic governor, Abigail Spanberger, posted on X that she was deeply saddened and praying for the couple’s children and families.
“This tragedy reminds us that domestic violence can occur in any family and in any place,” she wrote. “Resources are available to support our neighbors experiencing domestic violence and facing mental health crises.”
Biesecker reported from Fairfax County, Virginia. Associated Press reporters Sarah Brumfield in Cockeysville, Maryland, Jonathan Mattise in Nashville, Tennessee, Alanna Durkin Richer in Washington, Allen G. Breed in Wake Forest, North Carolina, and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, contributed to this report.
Fairfax County coroners remove a body from the home of former Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, in Annandale, Va., Thursday, April 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
Fairfax County coroners, with two bodies in the van, prepare to leave the home of former Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, in Annandale, Va., Thursday, April 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
FILE - Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, right, and his wife, Cerina, at the inauguration of Gov. Ralph Northam at the Capitol in Richmond, Va., Saturday, Sept. 13, 2018. (AP Photo/Kevin Morley, File)
Fairfax County police confer in front of the home of former Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, in Annandale, Va., Thursday, April 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
FILE - Virginia Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, speaks to supporters at Pink Fish restaurant in Hampton, Va., Thursday, April 8, 2021. (AP Photo/Steve Helber, File)
Fairfax County coroners remove a body from the home of former Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, in Annandale, Va., Thursday, April 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
Fairfax County police secure the home of former Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, in Annandale, Va., Thursday, April 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
Fairfax County coroners remove a body from the home of former Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, in Annandale, Va., Thursday, April 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)
FILE - Democratic candidate for Governor of Virginia Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax answers a question during a debate held in Bristol, Va., on Thursday, May 6, 2021. (David Crigger/Bristol Herald Courier via AP, File)
Police investigte the scene of an apparent domestic-related shooting early Thursday, April 16, 2026in Annandale, Va. (WJLA via AP)
