Before his election to the state Senate, McLaurin served two terms in the Georgia House of Representatives.

He then attended Yale Law School, where he briefly lived with author, future U.S. senator, and Vice President JD Vance.

[1] After winning the 2018 election for a seat in the Georgia House of Representatives, McLaurin succeeded 17-year incumbent Wendell Willard.

In 2022, following Donald Trump's endorsement of JD Vance for that year's Senate election in Ohio, McLaurin shared private text messages Vance had sent him during the 2016 United States presidential campaign positing that Trump could become "America's Hitler".

[1] Vance was later elected and inaugurated as vice president of the United States.