Virginia voters on Tuesday selected Democrat Jennifer McClellan, a veteran state lawmaker from Richmond, to fill a vacant seat in the US House of Representatives, where she will make history as the first black woman to represent the state in Congress.
“We will make this commonwealth and this country a better place for everyone,” McClellan said in a victory speech at a party with supporters in Richmond. “I’m ready to go to work.”
McClellan, 50, prevailed over right-wing Republican candidate Leon Benjamin in the special election for the blue-leaning 4th District, which has its population center in the capital city and stretches south to the North Carolina border. .
The seat was left vacant following the death of Democratic Rep. Donald McEachin, who died after a long battle with the side effects of colorectal cancer in November, weeks after being elected to a fourth term. McClellan’s election will not change the balance of power in the US House of Representatives, which is narrowly controlled by Republicans.
“Historic. She had to be a part of it,” voter Rashida Mitchell said of the ballot she cast for McClellan Tuesday afternoon. “She’s done great things for the city of Richmond, for the community at large.”
Before Tuesday, only 22 states had elected a black woman to Congress, according to a recent Pew Research Center analysis of historical records. McClellan said breaking that barrier in Virginia carries additional weight because of her family’s history in the Jim Crow South.
His father’s grandfather had to take a literacy test and find three white people to vouch for him just so he could register to vote, said McClellan, a native of central Virginia. His grandfather and his father paid the poll taxes, and his mother, now 90, did not vote until after the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
NEXT SPECIAL ELECTION FOR STATE SENATE
Following McClellan’s historic victory, a special election has been set for March 28 to fill the vacancy in the Virginia Senate, and political parties have only days to choose their nominees.
Louise Lucas, temporary president of the Senate, set the date of the elections for Wednesday. The official said she chose him to ensure the seat representing the blue-leaning 9th district is filled by the time lawmakers return to Capitol Hill in April to address Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s proposed amendments and vetoes. Democrats narrowly control the Senate.
The parties have until Monday to nominate their candidates, stressed Lucas, who has the authority to set the date because the Legislature is in session.
That tight schedule creates a fight for the candidates. At least three, all Democrats, have declared their intention to run: Dawn Adams, Lamont Bagby and party activist Alexsis Rodgers, who previously ran for Richmond mayor.
A Democratic Party committee voted Wednesday night to hold a primary at the firehouse on Sunday, according to a news release. Polls will be open from 9 am to 6 pm, and polling locations are still being determined.
The deadline for Democratic candidates to submit their proposals, voter signatures and other documents is 7 p.m. Friday.
