Donald McEachin


Aston Donald McEachin was an American politician and lawyer who served as the U.S. representative for Virginia's 4th congressional district from 2017 until his death in 2022. His district was based in the state capital, Richmond; it included much of the area between Richmond, a portion of its suburbs, and Hampton Roads.
A member of the Democratic Party, McEachin served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 1996 until 2002 and then served an additional term from 2006 until 2008. In 2001, he was the Democratic nominee in the 2001 [Virginia Attorney General election|Virginia Attorney General election], which he lost to Jerry Kilgore. He was first elected to represent Virginia's 4th congressional district in 2016, filling an open seat vacated by Randy Forbes.
McEachin was the first African American nominated by a major party for Virginia Attorney General. He was the third African American elected to Congress from Virginia and the second elected from the state since the 19th century.

Early life, education, and legal career

McEachin was born in Nuremberg, West Germany, while his father was serving in the United States Army. He attended St. Christopher's School in Richmond. In 1982, he received a bachelor's degree in political history from American University. After that, he attended the University of [Virginia School of Law], where he received a J.D. in 1986. He also received a Master of Divinity from Virginia Union University in 2008. In 2012, he was awarded honoris causa membership in Omicron Delta Kappa, the National Leadership Honor Society.
McEachin began to practice law in Richmond after completing law school, eventually becoming a partner in his own firm, McEachin and Gee.

Virginia Legislature

McEachin was first elected to the House of Delegates from the 74th district in 1995. After three terms there, he ran in the 2001 Virginia Attorney General election. He won a four-way Democratic primary with 33.6% of the vote, but lost the general election to Republican nominee Jerry Kilgore by 20 percentage points.
In 2005 he ran again for the 74th House district, defeating his predecessor, Floyd Miles, by 44 votes in the Democratic primary, and winning the general election with 75% of the vote.
In 2007, McEachin ran for the state senate, challenging 9th district incumbent Benjamin Lambert, who drew criticism within the Democratic Party for his endorsement of Republican U.S. Senator George Allen in Allen's unsuccessful 2006 reelection campaign against Jim Webb. After defeating Lambert 58%-42% in the primary, McEachin won 81% of the vote against independent Silver Persinger in the general election.
McEachin was unopposed for reelection in 2011.

United States House of Representatives

Midway through his third term in the state senate, McEachin got an opportunity to transfer to federal politics. A federal court threw out Virginia's original congressional map as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. A new map saw all of Petersburg and most of the majority-black precincts in Henrico County shifted from the 3rd district to the 4th district. The 4th also picked up all of Richmond, which had previously been split between the 3rd and 7th districts. The 4th had been represented by Republican Randy Forbes since a 2001 special election, but the addition of these majority-black areas turned the 4th from a Republican-leaning swing district into a heavily Democratic district. Rather than face certain defeat in the redrawn 4th, Forbes made an unsuccessful bid for the Republican nomination in the neighboring 2nd district. McEachin, whose then-home in unincorporated Henrico County lay just outside the redrawn 4th's boundaries, defeated Chesapeake City Councilwoman Ella Ward for the Democratic nomination. He then handily defeated Republican Henrico County Sheriff Mike Wade in the general election. He was reelected three times with no substantive opposition.

Committee assignments

McEachin was a member of the following committees and subcommittees during the 117th Congress:
McEachin voted with President Joe Biden's stated position 100% of the time in the 117th Congress, according to a FiveThirtyEight analysis.

Electoral history

Illness and death

In 2018, McEachin revealed that he had developed a fistula after completing treatment for colorectal cancer in 2014, losing more than as a result. He advocated regular testing for colon cancer/colorectal cancer, telling attendees at a 2022 special screening of the film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, "Don't fool around. Don't go through my journey", two weeks before his death.
McEachin died at his home in Richmond of complications of cancer on November 28, 2022, at the age of 61. His death came a few weeks after his reelection to a fourth term in the 2022 [United States House of Representatives elections in Virginia#District 4|2022 elections]. Tributes to McEachin were paid by outgoing Speaker of the [United States House of Representatives|Speaker of the House] Nancy Pelosi, as well as fellow Virginia Democratic representative Gerry Connolly and both of Virginia's U.S. Senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine. McEachin was succeeded by Jennifer McClellan, a fellow Democrat who held McEachin's former state senate seat, in a 2023 [Virginia's 4th congressional district special election|special election] on February 21, 2023.
McEachin is buried in the Mount Calvary Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia.

Personal life

McEachin and his wife, Colette, had three children and lived in Richmond. In 2019, Colette McEachin became interim Commonwealth's Attorney for Richmond, won the Democratic nomination on August 10, and was unopposed in the special election on November 5.
On August 25, 2015, McEachin's name was found on the userlist leaked from the data breach of the Ashley Madison website. His response was, "At this time, this is a personal issue between my family and me. I will have no further statement on this issue."
McEachin was a Baptist.