Del. Lamont Bagby (D-Henrico) and state Sen. Jennifer L. McClellan (D-Richmond), who ran for governor last year, have both filed paperwork to run for the seat; Bagby is expected to formally announce his campaign later Monday.
Given that each are the top two leaders of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus — Bagby the chair and McClellan vice chair — their likely candidacies could set up a heated rivalry in the deep-blue, majority-minority 4th District, which stretches from Richmond to the North Carolina border.
Joseph Preston, a lawyer, also announced his campaign for the seat on Monday. Preston served one year in the House of Delegates in 2015 after winning a special election to fill the seat of Rosalyn Dance, who was elected to the state Senate. Just months into his House term, Preston then decided to challenge Dance in a primary election for her Senate seat, which he lost.
The 4th District seat is expected to remain safely Democratic; three weeks before he died, McEachin won a fourth term by 30 points against his Republican challenger, Leon Benjamin.
McEachin, who had served in both the Virginia House of Delegates and state Senate during his political career, was first elected to Congress in 2016. Throughout his tenure, the lawyer and ordained minister developed a reputation for fierce advocacy for civil rights and environmental justice, paying keen attention to how climate change and pollutants disproportionately affect disadvantaged or minority communities.
He was diagnosed with cancer in 2013 and developed further complications from treatment in 2018.
Bagby has described him as a mentor.
“Donald McEachin spent his entire career building a incredible legacy for this community that we will never forget. I would not be here without him. Tomorrow I will tell you how I plan to help build on the McEachin legacy for the next generation,” Bagby wrote Sunday on Twitter, teasing his campaign announcement.
McClellan filled McEachin’s seat in the state Senate when he was elected to Congress and noted in a statement after he died that they had been friends for over 20 years.
Laura Vozzella contributed to this report.