Black women—one of the Democratic party’s most influential voting blocs—are also seeing their numbers grow in Congress and state legislatures. According to data from the Center for American Women and Politics, 24 black women serve in the U.S. House of Representatives—an all-time high–and more than 300 in state legislatures.
“I know that I’m standing on the shoulders of…black women [who] first set foot in this country, whether it’s Sojourner Truth or Harriet Tubman or Ida B. Wells or Fannie Lou Hamer,” McClellan said in an interview. “And I am carrying on their work. And I feel the weight of that. But I cannot leave these fights to my children or my children’s children.”
In her campaign launch video, McClellan said her gubernatorial campaign begins with the question, “where do we go from here?” Citing the coronavirus pandemic, unrest over racial injustice and frustration with the Trump administration, McClellan said she’s running “to keep leading progress into our future.”
Higher Heights PAC, an organization that supports progressive black female candidates at the state and federal level, has a slate of 16 women on its endorsement list for 2020. According to Glynda Carr, the PAC’s president and CEO, that number is growing quickly as more black women pursue public office.
“When more black women see black women running, winning and leading it actually inspires more black women to run,” Carr said. “And so that I think will be the legacy of this moment…because we now have very clear examples of how black women lead once elected.”
A 14-year legislator who also served in Virginia’s House of Delegates, McClellan said running for governor was a “natural extension” of her political career. Her platform is focused on issues of education, something she pushed for as a member of the state’s House Education, Commerce and Labor Committee. Given concerns about the spread of the coronavirus in Virginia, McClellan said she plans to run a campaign that is very web and phone-based with limited in-person interactions.
“In some ways the basics haven’t changed,” McClellan explained. “You need to meet people where they are and give them information that [shows] you understand their problems. And whether we were in a pandemic or not, to truly do that, you need many different modes.”
McClellan could face stiff opposition in the primary to succeed Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam. Other prospective candidates include former Gov. Terry McAuliffe, Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, and Attorney General Mark R. Herring. Jennifer Carroll Foy, a state House delegate who announced her campaign in late May, has pushed a platform with an emphasis on issues that impact the state’s black community.
