About Jennifer McClellan
A career of service to the constituents of Virginia.
Jennifer McClellan entered the U.S. Congress in 2023 after winning a special election to replace the late Congressman A. Donald McEachin, becoming the first Black woman elected to Congress from Virginia.
A lifelong Virginia native, McClellan was born in Petersburg to parents who served their community: her father worked as a professor at Virginia State University and her mother worked as a counselor at VSU. McClellan attended Matoaca High School in Chesterfield County, where she was valedictorian. She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Richmond, where she served as a Charter member of the Rho Rho Chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. She then obtained her Juris Doctorate from the University of Virginia School of Law. McClellan has served the greater Richmond area in elected office for nearly twenty years. She was first elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 2005 and served in that post until she was elected to the Virginia State Senate in 2017, where she succeeded A. Donald McEachin after his election to the U.S. House of Representatives.
In the current 119th Congress, McClellan currently sits on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, where she serves on the frontlines defending the American people’s access to health care, lower energy bills and a clean and livable planet. In the 118th Congress, she sat on the House Armed Services Committee and the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee.
A principled and progressive legislator, McClellan has always worked to ensure Virginians’ voices are heard in government. Throughout her eighteen sessions in the Virginia General Assembly, McClellan passed over 370 pieces of legislation, including landmark bills to protect and expand voting rights, combat climate change, preserve reproductive health care, and enhance workers’ protections and labor rights.
McClellan lives in Richmond with her husband, David Mills, their two children Jackson and Samantha, and their dog Obi.
Committee Assignments
The House Energy and Commerce Committee
The House Energy and Commerce Committeeis the oldest continuous standing committee in the U.S. House of Representatives. It was originally established in 1795 to regulate interstate and foreign commerce.
Today, the Committee has the broadest jurisdiction of any authorizing committee in Congress. It legislates on a wide variety of issues, including health care, including mental health and substance abuse; health insurance, including Medicare and Medicaid; biomedical research and development, food, drug, device and cosmetic safety; environmental protection; clean air and climate change; safe drinking water; toxic chemicals and hazardous waste; national energy policy; renewable energy and conservation; nuclear facilities; electronic communications and the internet; broadcast and cable television; privacy, cybersecurity and data security; consumer protection and product safety; motor vehicle safety; travel, tourism and sports; and interstate and foreign commerce.
Caucus Membership
The Reproductive Freedom Caucus (Chair of Abortion Rights and Access Task Force)
New Democrat Coalition (Leadership Member at Large)
The Equal Rights Amendment Caucus (Vice-Chair)
Congressional Black Caucus (Parliamentarian)
American Canadian Economic & Security Caucus.
Congressional Progressive Caucus
Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition
Task Force on Strengthening Democracy
The Black Maternal Health Caucus
The Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Caucus
The Chesapeake Bay Watershed Caucus