Democrat Jennifer McClellan has become the first Black woman to represent Virginia in Congress, according to reports in the United States on Tuesday. In the 4th Congressional District special election on Tuesday, the 50-year-old Richmond state legislator defeated Republican Leon Benjamin.
She will take over for Democrat Rep. Donald McEachin, who died in November shortly after being re-elected. McClellan will now be one of 29 Black women in the House, and she wants to make sure she is not the last, she said.
McClellan, a member of the Virginia Senate since 2017, formerly served in the House of Delegates for 11 years and campaigned unsuccessfully for governor in 2021. The politician and mother of two ran on a platform of expanding voting rights, defending domestic workers and abortion access, and ensuring environmental justice. She has sponsored legislation to address the aforementioned issues over the years.
She is passionate about voting rights because her family members, who were largely domestic workers, had difficulty voting in the past. In an interview, McClellan recalled that her grandfather had to undergo a literacy test before he could vote, and her great-grandfather was nearly denied the right to vote due to his role as a community leader.
“I brought those experiences and those stories with me into the public policy arena,” McClellan said. A graduate of a suburban Richmond high school, McClellan developed an interest in politics while in middle school. She became a student at the University of Richmond and earned her law degree from the University of Virginia. She is an associate general counsel for Verizon, where she has worked for 20 years, according to AP.
“It still blows my mind that we’re having firsts in 2023,” McClellan said in an interview. “My ancestors fought really hard to have a seat at that table, and now not only will I have a seat at the table in Congress; I’ll be able to bring that policymaking table into communities that never really had a voice before.”