Jennifer McClellan ’97 Wins Historic Election to Congress

A University of Virginia School of Law alumna has made history — again.

Jennifer McClellan ’97 was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday in a special election, making her the first Black woman to represent Virginia in Congress.

McClellan announced her intention to run for the 4th District on Dec. 13 following the death of Rep. A. Donald McEachin, a 1986 alumnus who had held the seat since 2017. She was expected to win the heavily Democratic district following a landslide primary win in December.

“It’s poetic justice, thinking about what not only my family has been through, but what our country has been through,” McClellan said in an interview with The Washington Post. “To be the first Black woman from Virginia, which was the birthplace of American democracy but also the birthplace of American slavery. And to be someone who … fought my entire adult life to address the lingering impact that slavery and Jim Crow has had on America and on Black communities. … To be able to do that on a national scale is an incredible honor.”