Virginia state Sen. Jennifer McClellan has won the Democratic nomination for the House seat vacated by the late Rep. Donald McEachin.
The race was called by The Associated Press shortly after 4 a.m. Thursday, with McClellan receiving 84.81% of the vote.
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin called a special election for the state’s 4th Congressional District after McEachin’s death, instructing both parties to file candidates by Dec. 23. In that short time, four Democrats registered for the so-called “firehouse primary,” named for how the party had to scramble to organize the election.
“Tuesday’s party-run process saw historic turnout with 27,900 votes cast, making it the largest party-run nomination process in the history of the Democratic Party of Virginia; voter turnout even exceeded the last state-run primary in VA-04, when 15,728 votes were cast,” the Democratic Party of Virginia said in a statement Thursday.
VIRGINIA DEMOCRATIC REP. DONALD MCEACHIN DEAD AT 61 AFTER BATTLE WITH COLORECTAL CANCER
State Sen. Jennifer McClellan, D-Va., candidate for Virginia’s 4th Congressional District, speaks during a canvassing event as Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., looks on, in the North Side of Richmond, Virginia, on Saturday, Dec. 17, 2022. McClellan is running to fill the seat of the late Rep. Donald McEachin, D-Va.
(Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Joseph D. Morrissey prepares for business to begin as lawmakers return to Richmond to kick off the 2015 Virginia General Assembly on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2015, in Richmond, Virginia.
(Jahi Chikwendiu/The Washington Post)
U.S. Rep. Don McEachin, D-Va., speaks during a rally for then-Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden in Norfolk, Virginia, March 1, 2020. McEachin died Monday, Nov. 28, 2022, after a battle with colorectal cancer, his office said. He was 61.
(AP Photo/Steve Helber)
The two front-runners were McClellan and Democratic state Sens….
