On Tuesday, Virginia residents in the 4th Congressional District voted in a special election to determine who would represent them to replace former representative Donald McEachin, who passed away in November of 2022. Democratic State Senator Jennifer McClellan easily defeated Republican pastor Leon Benjamin, who had vied for this congressional seat in the past two elections.
The Associated Press called the race for McClellan shortly after polls closed. According to the New York Times, McClellan leads by nearly 50,000 votes over Benjamin with more than 95% of ballots cast. The race was expected to go for Democrats by most major news outlets, so the result comes with little surprise
With the victory in the special election, McClellan will become the first Black woman in Congress representing the State of Virginia. She is also a University of Richmond alumni, and law school graduate from the University of Virginia. She is expected to be sworn in sometime after the election results are certified.
Source Links:
- https://www.virginiamercury.com/blog-va/mcclellan-beats-benjamin-in-special-election-for-virginia-congressional-seat/
- https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-virginia-state-government-north-carolina-2022-midterm-elections-richmond-b5a6fa87e084a575582885e1e5b5f72f
- https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/02/21/us/elections/results-virginia-us-house-district-4-special.html
- https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2023/02/21/mcclellan-first-black-woman-congress-virginia-election/11307643002/
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