Jennifer L. McClellan’s campaign to become the first Black woman to represent Virginia in Congress will culminate next week in a special election she is heavily favored to win — and most aptly during Black History Month.

Having eliminated three male opponents in the “firehouse” Democratic primary, Richmond’s popular senior state senator only has to beat the Donald Trump-worshipping Republican candidate, Leon Benjamin Sr., in her sprint to become the next representative from the 4th Congressional District. Voters will make the decision Tuesday, Feb. 21, in filling the seat previously held by the late Congressman A. Donald McEachin, who died Nov. 28, just a few weeks after beating Mr. Benjamin for the second time in the regular November election.

Polls across the district will be open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the 15 localities that comprise the sprawling district that is rated solidly Democratic.

Those communities include the cities of Richmond, Hopewell, Petersburg, Emporia and Colonial Heights and all or part of the counties of Charles City, Chesterfield, Henrico, Dinwiddie, Prince George, Brunswick, Greensville Southampton, Surry and Sussex.

Sen. McClellan, who describes herself as a “working mom and 18-year state legislator,” is expected to gain the checkmark of victory soon after the polls close.

Despite a busy General Assembly session, the 50-year-old Petersburg native has been far more visible than Mr. Benjamin, 54, a U.S. Navy veteran who leads New Harvest Church in Richmond’s South Side and is best known for never conceding his previous lopsided losses to Congressman McEachin.

Along with successfully pushing 20 pieces of legislation through the Senate, Sen. McClellan has run TV ads and hosted campaign events after amassing a campaign war chest of nearly $1 million, or 15 times the $64,000 that Mr. Benjamin reported.

With her win virtually assured, Sen. McClellan is on track to become the 28th Black woman serving in the House of Representatives in the current 118th Congress. She also would increase total female representation to 125 of the 435 House members.

Sen. McClellan’s breakthrough into the Virginia delegation would come 55 years after Shirley Chisholm of New York became the first Black woman to win a congressional seat.

Sen. McClellan has promised to bring a perspective that has long been underrepresented in the Virginia delegation.

When it comes to the issues, from voting to health care access to equality under the law, she has vowed to voters that “I will put my experience as a legislator to work” for those she will serve.

Sen. McClellan was first elected to the House of Delegates in 2005. She joined the state Senate in 2017 after winning a special election to replace Mr. McEachin, who gave up his seat after winning his first congressional election.

A graduate of the University of Richmond who earned her law degree at the University of Virginia, Sen. McClellan has long been a member of Verizon’s in-house legal team, a post she has given up in seeking to become a full-time member of Congress.