McClellan becomes first Black woman from Virginia elected to Congress

Democrat Jennifer McClellan easily won a special election to claim the Fourth District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives Tuesday, earning nearly three-quarters of the vote to easily defeat Republican Leon Benjamin.

The victory was a historic one for McClellan, 50, who will become the first Black woman to serve in Congress from Virginia. She will fill the seat vacated in late November by the sudden death of Representative Donald McEachin, who had just won re-election to serve a fourth term.

Benjamin lost for the third straight time in his attempt to claim the seat in what is a decidedly Democratic-leaning district.

McClellan leaves the Virginia General Assembly after 18 years there, beginning in 2006 when she was elected to the House of Delegates. She moved to the Virginia Senate in 2017, winning a special election to fill the Ninth District seat vacated by McEachin after his election to Congress.

John Mercer Langston, of Louisa County, took office in 1890 as the first Black man to represent Virginia in the House of Representatives, according to the U.S. House archives. It has taken more than a century for Virginia to send the first Black woman to the same chamber.

“It is a tremendous honor, but it is also a tremendous responsibility to make sure I'm not the last,” McClellan said during her victory party Tuesday night at the Richmond Marriott hotel.

McClellan will honor McEachin’s legacy when she takes office, she said. The two partnered together on climate action and environmental justice projects, and McClellan plans to continue that work, she said.

“He brought a servant leader's heart to the office, and I will do that as well,” McClellan said.

U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, D-Va., is excited to work with McClellan, she said Tuesday at the victory party. Spanberger partnered with McEachin on issues related to broadband connectivity and agriculture.

“The fact that she and I will be able to work on some of those issues to support Virginia really makes me very, very excited,” Spanberger said.

The Fourth Congressional District includes the eastern half of Henrico County, as well as 14 other localities in whole or part between the Richmond region and the North Carolina border. Among Henrico voters, McClellan won more than 80% of the vote. Overall, she received nearly 81,000 votes, to Benjamin's nearly 28,000.

McClellan’s resounding victory in a Democratic primary Dec. 20, in which she earned 84% percent of the vote to outdistance state Senator Joe Morrissey (13%), Tavroise Marks (0.8%) and Joseph Preston (0.6%), essentially served as a de facto general election, given the district’s strong Democratic base.

Henrico Delegate and Virginia Legislative Black Caucus Chair Lamont Bagby, who initially also opted to seek the party’s nomination to replace McEachin in Congress before withdrawing several days later, now is considered the leading candidate to replace McClellan in the Virginia Senate. He formally announced his intent to seek the seat Wednesday. Delegate Dawn Adams and former Richmond mayoral candidate Alexsis Rodgers also are seeking the seat.

While in the Virginia General Assembly, McClellan helped pass Voting Rights Act, the Virginia Clean Economy Act, the Reproductive Health Protection Act and the Domestic Worker Bill of Rights.

Stephen Farnsworth, director of the University of Mary Washington Center for Leadership and Media Studies and a political science professor, called her victory “another landmark moment in Virginia politics.”

“She benefited from years of experience in the Virginia legislature and from districts with lines that are very favorable to a Democratic candidate,” Farnsworth said.

– Faith Redd of the Capital News Service contributed to this article