Antwan McClellan (born 1974/1975) is an American Republican Party politician who has represented the 1st Legislative District in the

New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts f ...

since January 14, 2020. McClellan served as a

councilman A councillor, alternatively councilman, councilwoman, councilperson, or council member, is someone who sits on, votes in, or is a member of, a council. This is typically an elected representative of an electoral district in a municipal or regio ...

Ocean City, New Jersey Ocean City is a City (New Jersey), city in Cape May County, New Jersey, Cape May County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is the principal city of the Ocean City metropolitan statistical area, which encompasses all of Cape May County, and is ...

from 2012 until 2020.

Personal and early life

McClellan is a lifelong resident of Ocean City. He is the youngest of six siblings. He attended

Ocean City High School Ocean City High School (OCHS) is a four-year comprehensive high school, comprehensive state school, public Secondary education in the United States, high school located in Ocean City, New Jersey, Ocean City, in Cape May County, New Jersey, Cap ...

as well as

Virginia State University Virginia State University (VSU or Virginia State) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically Black land-grant university, land-grant university in Ettrick, Virginia, United States. Founded on , Vi ...

and

Old Dominion University Old Dominion University (ODU) is a Public university, public research university in Norfolk, Virginia, United States. Established in 1930 as the two-year Norfolk Division of the College of William & Mary, it began by educating people with fewer ...

. McClellan serves as the Confidential Assistant/Personnel Director/Public Information Officer in the Cape May County Sheriff's Department. He was first elected to the Ocean City Council in 2012 and was re-elected in 2016. He has also served as a member of the

board of education A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional area, ...

of the

Ocean City School District The Ocean City School District is a comprehensive community public school district that serves students in pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade from Ocean City, in Cape May County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2022–23 school ...

, a trustee on the Ocean City Historical Museum and a volunteer for the South Jersey Field of Dreams.

New Jersey Assembly

McClellan started his bid for Assembly in early 2019. He ran as a team alongside

Mike Testa Michael L. Testa Jr. (born May 1, 1976) is an American politician and lawyer who represents the 1st Legislative District in the New Jersey Senate. A Republican, Testa was elected to the state senate on November 5, 2019 in the special elec ...

and Erik Simonsen. McClellan alongside Simonsen ousted incumbents Bruce Land and Matt Milam. He was also the first

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

Republican in the legislature since 2002. Republicans attacked the Democratic-supporting General Majority PAC for darkening McClellan's face in a mailer, accusing them of racism and demanding the mailer be withdrawn. McClellan commented on the mailer, "The Democratic Party claims to be the party of inclusion. However, the moment a person of color like me disagrees with their narrative, they launch an

ad hominem attack , short for , refers to several types of arguments that are usually fallacious. Often currently this term refers to a rhetorical strategy where the speaker attacks the character, motive, or some other attribute of the person making an argument ...

, whip out their best '

Aunt Jemima Aunt Jemima was an American breakfast brand for pancake mix, table syrup, and other breakfast food products. The original version of the pancake mix was developed in 1888–1889 by the Pearl Milling Company and was advertised as the first " ...

' photograph, and purposefully darken my complexion in order to suppress dissent."

Tenure

McClellan was sworn into the Assembly on January 14, 2020, when the

219th New Jersey Legislature The 219th New Jersey Legislature began on January 14, 2020, following the 2019 elections for Assembly, and one special election for Senate. It ended on January 11, 2022. Background Elections will be held in November 2019 for all 80 seats in ...

convened.

Committee assignments

*Appropriations *Homeland Security and State Preparedness *Tourism Gaming and the Arts

District 1

New Jersey's 1st Legislative District encompasses parts of

Atlantic County, New Jersey Atlantic County is a county located in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 census, the county was the state's 15th-most-populous county,Cumberland County, New Jersey Cumberland County is a coastal county located on the Delaware Bay in the Southern Shore Region of the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 census, the county was the state's 16th-most-populous county,Cape May County, New Jersey Cape May County is the southernmost County (United States), county in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Much of the county is located on the Cape May peninsula, bound by the Delaware Bay to its west and the Atlantic Ocean to its south and east. ...

. Each of the 40 districts in the New Jersey Legislature has one representative in the

New Jersey Senate The New Jersey Senate is the upper house of the New Jersey Legislature by the Constitution of 1844, replacing the Legislative Council. There are 40 legislative districts, representing districts with an average population of 232,225 (2020 figure ...

and two members in the

. The representatives from the 1st District for the 2024—2025 Legislative Session are:Legislative Roster for District 1

New Jersey Legislature The New Jersey Legislature is the legislative branch of the government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, as defined by the New Jersey Constitution of 1947, the Legislature consists of two houses: the General Assembly and ...

. Accessed January 21, 2024. *Senator

(R) *Assemblyman Antwan McClellan (R) *Assemblyman Erik Simonsen (R)

Electoral history

General Assembly

References

External links

Legislative Webpage
{{DEFAULTSORT:McClellan, Antwan 1970s births 21st-century African-American politicians 21st-century members of the New Jersey Legislature African-American state legislators in New Jersey Living people Old Dominion University alumni People from Ocean City, New Jersey Politicians from Cape May County, New Jersey Republican Party members of the New Jersey General Assembly Virginia State University alumni Year of birth missing (living people)