McClellan is a lifelong resident of Ocean City.[5] He is the youngest of six siblings. He attended Ocean City High School as well as Virginia State University and Old Dominion University.[6] McClellan serves as the Confidential Assistant/Personnel Director/Public Information Officer in the Cape May County Sheriff's Department.[5] He was first elected to the Ocean City Council in 2012 and was re-elected in 2016.[5] He has also served as a member of the board of education of the Ocean City School District, a trustee on the Ocean City Historical Museum and a volunteer for the South Jersey Field of Dreams.[5]
New Jersey Assembly
McClellan started his bid for Assembly in early 2019. He ran as a team alongside Mike Testa and Erik Simonsen. McClellan alongside Simonsen ousted incumbents Bruce Land and Matt Milam. He was also the first African American Republican in the legislature since 2002.[7]
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General Majority PAC for darkening McClellan's face in a mailer, accusing them of racism and demanding the mailer be withdrawn.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, whip out their best 'Aunt Jemima' photograph, and purposefully darken my complexion in order to suppress dissent."[8]
^Assemblyman Antwan McClellan, NJ Assembly Republicans. Accessed January 12, 2022. "A 1993 graduate of Ocean City High School, McClellan attended Virginia State University and Old Dominion University."