CNN
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Jennifer McClellan, a former Virginia state senator, was sworn in on Tuesday, changing into the primary Black lady to symbolize the commonwealth in Congress.
Her ascent to the Home of Representatives is a milestone for Virginia, a state that was as soon as house to the capital of the Confederacy and is a former slave-trading heart. McClellan joins a divided Congress, by which Republicans management the Home of Representatives, making the potential for passing Democratic-backed priorities slim.
McClellan’s election additionally provides to what’s already a document variety of girls and girls of colour in Congress, and units a brand new document for the variety of Black girls, in keeping with knowledge from the Middle for American Girls and Politics at Rutgers College.
In February, McClellan received Virginia’s particular election and succeeded the late Democratic Rep. Donald McEachin, who died in November. She defeated Republican Leon Benjamin, a pastor and Navy veteran, within the closely Democratic congressional 4th district that had been held by McEachin since 2017.
She instructed CNN on the marketing campaign path that in changing into the primary Black lady to symbolize the commonwealth, “it’s an incredible honor nevertheless it’s additionally an incredible duty as a result of I want to verify I’m not the final.”
“I’ve a duty to be a mentor and assist pave the best way for different Black girls, whether or not it’s, you realize, working for federal workplace or working at native or state and to only assist as many as I can to succeed,” McClellan stated after casting her poll in February.
Whereas within the Virginia Basic Meeting, McClellan pushed laws on gun management, abortion rights and training. She beforehand instructed CNN that she plans to proceed her work on these points, together with voting rights and reaffirmed her plans on Tuesday.
“I discovered within the normal meeting right here in Virginia, I used to be within the minority for 14 years, and I discovered simply be persistent,” McClellan instructed Don Lemon on “CNN This Morning” whereas touting her work on the Voting Rights Act of Virginia. She spearheaded the measure, which was signed into legislation in 2021 and aimed to eradicate voter suppression and intimidation within the commonwealth.
Raised in Petersburg, Virginia, McClellan was elected to the Home of Delegates in 2005 and received a 2017 particular election for state Senate after McEachin was elected to Congress in 2016. In 2020, she launched a bid for governor, finally coming in third within the 2021 Democratic major.