Jennifer McClellan Can Make History Today As Virginia’s First Black Woman Elected to Congress

By Rayna Reid Rayford ·Updated February 21, 2023

If Jennifer McClellan is victorious in today’s special election to represent Virginia’s 4th Congressional District, the current state Senator would make history, becoming the first Black woman from Virginia in Congress.

If elected, the Democrat will be the epitome of Black Girl Magic, and what makes it even sweeter is that this is all happening during Black History Month.

There are currently only 29 Black women serving in the 118th Congress, and the Pew Research Center conducted an analysis, finding that only “[t]wenty-two states have ever elected at least one Black woman to Congress…Overall, 57 Black women – among a total of 106 women of color – have ever been elected to the national legislature, counting both voting and nonvoting members of Congress.”

Early voting in Virginia started in January, and finished up over the weekend on Saturday. Today is the final day for voters to decide, but McClellan is ready, even tweeting out, “Just done day left until Virginia elects the first Black woman to Congress. Who’s ready?”

McClellan is running “for the open seat previously held by the late Democratic U.S. Rep. Donald McEachin, who died in November shortly after being elected to a fourth term.” A successful bid for this office would mark the second time she has succeeded McEachin, filling his former seat, the first being when she was elected to the state Senate in 2017 after he was elected to Congress.

The corporate attorney has a long history of service in the Richmond area—prior to serving in the state Senate, McClellan was a member of the House of Delegates since 2006.

During her tenure at the state level, McClellan passed over “350 pieces of legislation, and has built a solid reputation for being well-informed, with a deep base of knowledge, as well as a “consensus builder. She’s carried many of Democrats’ top legislative priorities in recent years, including bills that expanded voting access and abortion rights and legislation that set ambitious clean energy goals.”

This election, her opponent is Republican Leon Benjamin, a pastor who “previously lost twice to McEachin, including by 30 points in 2022.”

Former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, former majority whip Rep. James Clyburn, and the entire congressional delegation from Virginia have endorsed McClellan’s candidacy.

During the 2020 presidential election, “Biden won Virginia’s 4th Congressional District by roughly 35 percentage points,” and given these numbers in the area’s past voting history, McClellan is “heavily favored” to pull out a win in this special election.

This isn’t McClellan’s first attempt to serve in a higher office. In 2021, she went up against Terry McAuliffe in the governor’s Democratic primary, which raised her profile in the state.