Virginia’s open congressional seat offers opportunity for a new generation of Black leaders

By Ryan Nobles, NBC News

Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced Monday that Virginia will hold a special election Feb. 21 to fill the seat of Democratic Rep. Donald McEachin, 61, who represented the 4th District until his death from cancer last month. 

The unexpected opening in the majority-minority Democratic district — which is based in and around Richmond and extends to the North Carolina border — is already attracting interest from prominent Democrats who are part of a new generation of Black leaders in the state. 

Two of these well-known Richmond-area Democrats have already announced their intentions. State Sen. Jennifer McClellan, 49, is a veteran legislator who served 11 years in the House of Delegates and has been a member of the Senate since 2017. She has long held aspirations for higher office and lost a five-person primary for governor last year. If McClellan wins, she would be the first Black woman to serve in Congress from Virginia. 

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Her top challenger is Del. Lamont Bagby, 45 a former teacher and school board member who is the chair of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus. In his announcement speech Monday, he talked about his goals to reform the criminal justice system. 

“We need to be spending less money on criminal justice, more money on public safety and more money on education. That way, we are investing in people on the front end and not the back end,” he said.

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