VA redistricting won’t affect Jennifer McClellan’s intent to run again

Regardless of whether it stays as it is or widens under temporary redistricting, Rep. Jennifer McClellan says she still wants to run for re-election in Virginia‘s Fourth Congressional District.

McClellan, a Democrat, announced her candidacy May 1. In a statement, she said she submitted paperwork with more than 1,000 signatures of registered voters across the district, which extends from metro Richmond to the Virginia-North Carolina line and encompasses the Tri-City area.

“We have critical work ahead to create economic opportunity across the 4th Congressional District,” the 53-year-old Petersburg native said in her statement. “The stakes in this election could not be higher.”

McClellan’s bid comes as no surprise. The Fourth is a traditionally Democratic-leaning district.

The only real unknown issue is what borders the district will have come November.

Virginia congressional map in question

On April 21, Virginia voters narrowly passed a referendum that temporarily redraws the state’s 11 congressional districts that could potentially strength Democratic control from its current 6-5 margin to as much as 10-1.

Virginia Democrats proposed the new maps as a response to President Donald Trump’s push to redistrict Texas, North Carolina and other strong GOP states to increase Republican control in the House of Representatives. The new lines would be in place only until 2030 when the next round of redistricting would take place.

The General Assembly approved the referendum and the new map in highly partisan votes. That map would stretch the Fourth’s lines eastward to James City County and the city of Williamsburg, and westward along the state line toward Danville.

However, the Supreme Court of Virginia has paused the results of the referendum while it takes up Republican-generated legal challenges to the validity of the referendum.

Any challengers?

McClellan, an attorney, was born in Petersburg and grew up in Ettrick and Matoaca, as both her parents were employed at Virginia State University. She is a former member of the House of Delegates and Senate who unsuccessfully sought the 2021 Democratic gubernatorial nomination.

She ran for Congress in 2023 in a special election following the death of longtime Rep. Donald McEachin, becoming the first Black woman to ever represent Virginia in Washington.

McClellan sits on the House Energy & Commerce Committee. She is also parliamentarian of the Congressional Black Caucus.

So far, only one other person has announced an intent to run in the 4th. Jason Brown II, a member of the Dinwiddie County School Board, told The Progress-Index he was mulling a bid for either the Democratic nomination or a possible independent run.

No Republican candidates have come forward, but they have until May 26 to file. Primaries are set for Aug. 4.

Reporting by Bill Atkinson, Petersburg Progress-Index