Virginia's 4th District Primary

Democratic Rep. Jennifer McClellan heads to Virginia's Aug. 4 primary without a challenger, the clearest sign yet of how uncontested her grip on the 4th Congressional District has become. No Republican filed to run in the primary, and no Democrat stepped up to test her. The general election on Nov. 3 will feature three candidates on the ballot, but the district's lopsided partisan lean makes the outcome a near-certainty before a single vote is cast.

Virginia's 4th Congressional District covers the Richmond metropolitan area and portions of the Hampton Roads region. The state runs a traditional partisan primary: each party holds a separate contest, and the winner advances directly to the general election. There is no top-two system, no ranked-choice mechanism, and no runoff trigger. Both party primaries are scheduled for Aug. 4, though only the Democratic side has a candidate.

The Republican primary drew zero filings. The general election ballot will carry three names: McClellan for the Democrats, two independents, and no Republican nominee produced through the primary process.

The Candidates

McClellan won her seat in a February 2023 special election and is now seeking a full term in the 119th Congress. Before coming to Washington, she spent 18 sessions in the Virginia General Assembly, where she passed more than 370 pieces of legislation covering voting rights, climate policy, reproductive health care, and labor protections.

In Congress, she sits on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, where her focus has centered on health care access, energy costs, and environmental policy. In the current Congress, she has sponsored the AI-Ready Networks Act and the Career-Connected Learning Pathways Act.

McClellan faces no primary opponent and enters the general election as the dominant figure in a safely Democratic district.

Two independents round out the November ballot. Jason Brown II qualified directly for the general election without going through a primary. Andre Kersey did the same. Detailed biographical and policy information for either candidate was not available at the time of publication.

The Money Behind the Race

The candidates running in Virginia's 4th Congressional District have raised a combined $1,137,356 across the race. No outside spending has been reported as of July 27. No independent expenditures and no communication costs appear in the available campaign finance data for this contest.

Ratings vs. Odds

Cook Political Report, Sabato's Crystal Ball, and Inside Elections each rate this seat Solid Democratic. Cook and Sabato last updated their ratings July 16; Inside Elections last moved on June 30. The consensus rating, aggregated as of July 23, reflects unanimous agreement that the district is not competitive.

Kalshi puts Democrats at 95.5 percent to win the seat, with Republicans at 4.5 percent, based on 9,155 contracts traded as of July 26. With no Republican nominee emerging from the primary and two independents as the only opposition, the prediction market's near-certainty tracks the structural reality of the race.

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