Jennifer McClellan wins Virginia Democratic primary for Congress

Dec. 22 (UPI) -- Virginia state Sen. Jennifer McClellan took another step to becoming the first Black woman to represent Virginia in Congress after winning the Democratic primary early Thursday to replace Rep. Donald McEachin.

A special general election for the seat will be held in February to fill the seat of McEachin, D-Va., who died of cancer last month. The heavily Democratic district that includes the state capital of Richmond, was once the capital of the old Confederacy that sought to keep Blacks enslaved.

That history was not lost on McClellan as she spoke to supporters at a news conference Thursday. McClellan said she is ready to take "that experience, that passion" to the halls of Congress where she will make history if elected in February.

"I am ready to take that to Washington to be your voice there to bring a new perspective to the Virginia delegation that it has never had as a Black woman sitting at the table," she told supporters. "I am ready and I know you are ready."

In the Feb. 21 election for the 4th District seat, McClellan will face Republican Leon Benjamin, a pastor who has twice lost to McEachin.

"I spent 32 years getting other people elected to help people," McClellan said. "I went 17 years in the General Assembly working to help people, to improve their lives by expanding access to healthcare and affordable housing, fighting gun violence ... reforming our criminal justice system, fighting for voting rights [and] civil rights."

McClellan was essentially assured a win after state Del. Lamont Bagby, chair of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus, dropped out of the primary to endorse her. Some viewed it as an attempt to coalesce around McClellan against the controversial state Sen. Joe Morrissey.

Morrissey, who lost his law license twice, received a pardon from former Gov. Ralph Northam in 2021 after he entered a plea on a misdemeanor charge of contributing to the delinquency of a minor.