Ellen McLaughlin is a Republican member of the Virginia House of Delegates, representing District 36. McLaughlin first won a seat in a January 10, 2023, special election in the old 24th District, called after the death of Delegate Ronnie R. Campbell, McLaughlin’s husband, and was sworn in the next day. Following redistricting, McLaughlin won the newly drawn 36th District in November 2023 and began representing it in January 2024, then was re-elected in November 2025 over Democrat Makayla Venable. McLaughlin served under the name Ellen Campbell before adopting the surname McLaughlin. The district takes in the cities of Staunton and Waynesboro and parts of Augusta and Rockbridge counties in the Shenandoah Valley.1
Born in Staunton in 1969, McLaughlin earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Averett University and completed the Virginia Bankers School of Bank Management at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. McLaughlin spent about 30 years in banking before entering the legislature. Ronnie Campbell, a former state trooper and Rockbridge County official, had represented the 24th District from 2019 until dying of cancer in December 2022, and McLaughlin ran for the seat pledging to carry forward that legislative agenda, with public safety and tax relief among the stated priorities. McLaughlin has served as treasurer of the Rockbridge Shenandoah chapter of AFCEA, a professional association for the defense and technology sectors.
In the House of Delegates, McLaughlin serves on the Appropriations Committee, including its subcommittees on Health and Human Resources and on Elementary and Secondary Education, as well as the committees on Rules, on Counties, Cities and Towns, and on General Laws.
