By all accounts, Virginia State Sen. Jennifer L. McClellan has the makings of a formidable member of Congress. Arguably, she is the best qualified candidate to replace the late Rep. A. Donald McEachin, who died Nov. 28, 2022.

She would bring a strong résumé and a wealth of legislative experience to the job, more than 15 years in the Virginia House and Senate, as well as connections to the national Democratic Party as a member of the Democratic National Committee.

Both in the House and Senate, Sen. McClellan built a reputation as a knowledgeable lawmaker who worked to bridge progressive and establishment groups. She touts her record of working across the aisle with Republicans to get legislation passed, even when Democrats were in the minority in the General Assembly.

If she beats her senate colleague and main rival, Sen. Joe Morrissey, in this week’s “firehouse primary,” her path to victory should be a smooth one in the Democrat-friendly 4th District, where she would face off Feb. 21, against Republican Leon Benjamin. Rep. McEachin had twice defeated Mr. Benjamin by a considerable margin in two consecutive election cycles, 2020 and 2022.

(Democrats, Joseph Preston and Tavorise Marks, also contended for the nomination.) Sen. McClellan picked up endorsements from Virginia U.S. Sens. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, both former Democratic governors; Terry McAuliffe, the commonwealth’s most recent Democratic governor; Richmond Mayor Levar Stony, and Rep. McEachin’s widow Collette McEachin, Richmond’s top prosecutor.

If she wins the firehouse primary (the votes are still being counted as the Free Press deadline approaches), the Petersburg native, who turns 50 next week, would be the first Black woman from Virginia elected to Congress.

In a 2020 online HuffPost interview, Sen. McClellan said: “Black women have been the backbone of our communities and our economy but have been relegated to the shadows or the back over the past 400 years. “And again, whether it’s Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman, or Ida B. Wells, or Shirley Chisholm, you know, we’re going to keep pushing and keep striving for progress. We’re at a critical moment where we’ve broken through.”