Virginia state Sen. Jennifer McClellan, a Democrat from Richmond, is running for governor in 2021, she announced Thursday. She is the second candidate, and second Black woman, to officially enter the race for the Commonwealth’s highest office.

The only other Democrat to officially declare in the gubernatorial race is Del. Jennifer Carrol Foy (D-Prince William). If elected, either would become the first woman to be governor of Virginia and the first Black woman to be governor in the United States.

McClellan has been in state government for more than 14 years, first as a member of the House of Delegates and then a state senator. She is also the vice-chair of the Legislative Black Caucus. As a lawmaker, McClellan championed issues around racial equity, housing discrimination, climate change and access to abortion. In a video announcing her campaign, she addressed the need to rebuild an “inclusive” economy, improve public schools, and protect the right to vote.

Her entrance into the race comes as the coronavirus pandemic has killed more than 1,500 Virginians and as protests over police brutality and racism continue. In Richmond, protesters have toppled some statues of Confederate leaders, while legal battles continue over others.

“I know that this is not a moment to retreat to our past but to step boldly into our future,” McClellan said in her campaign video. “We must rebuild our economy, stronger, more inclusive, without leaving people behind. We have to learn from this crisis and improve our healthcare system.”

Virginia lawmakers will reconvene for a special session in August to address police reform. McClellan recently told WRIC that Virginia needs to address systemic issues with law enforcement and the root causes that lead to crime. “We also need to look holistically at how we prevent crime, not just how we punish crime and that’s going to be my priority,” she said. “It’s past time that we do that.”

A number of others are expected to run, including Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax and former Gov. Terry McAuliffe. (In Virginia, governors cannot serve consecutive terms.) Only one Republican, state Sen. Amanda Chase, is running for governor thus far.

A Virginia native, McClellan graduated from the University of Richmond and got her law degree from the University of Virginia. The 47-year-old is also a corporate attorney at Verizon. She joined the House of Delegates in 2006 and the state Senate in 2017, succeeding Donald McEachin, who is now in Congress.

McClellan comes from a family of educators and community leaders, she said. She hadn’t always planned on running for office, but told Elle Magazine that she wants to “be the one running to make change, rather than just electing other people with the hopes that they do it.”

Her grandfather was a civil rights lawyer who defended protesters who led sit-ins in Nashville in the 1960s, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

“My great-grandfather had to pass a literacy test and get three white men to vouch for him to be able to register to vote,” told Elle. “My great-grandmother couldn’t vote. Their parents were slaves. When I think about the trajectory of my own family, from bondage to leading a Commonwealth that was the capital of the Confederacy, I can’t help but feel the arc of the moral universe that bends toward justice that Dr. King talked about. I have to do my part to help bend it.”

McClellan already has a handful of endorsements, including fellow state Sens. Jennifer Boysko and Ghazala Hashmi.