Danica Roem on Tuesday became Virginia's first openly transgender elected official when she defeated incumbent Delegate Robert G. Marshall in a House of Delegates race, The Washington Post reported.
Marshall, who was first elected in 1991, ran as a social conservative and Roem, a former journalist, as a Democrat. She began her physical gender transition four years ago and Marshall's campaign attacked her at times over her morality, including accusing Roem of "wanting transgenderism taught to kindergartners."
"Danica will bring a reporter's eye to Richmond, and we eagerly anticipate her results-oriented approach to deliver for her constituents in the 13th," Virginia House Democratic Caucus Leader David J. Toscano and Caucus Chair Charniele Herring said in a statement, according to The Hill.
"As a journalist, Danica Roem has covered the issues critical to Virginians and listened to a wide range of perspectives. During her campaign, Danica expanded this approach by listening to area residents' concerns and making them integral to her own policy platform," they added.
Roem said in September that her candidacy gave others hope.
"The message that I can succeed because of my gender, not despite it, because of who I am without being afraid of who I am is a human message," she said, Cosmopolitan reported. "It's something that even if you are cisgender, but you have some reason that you've been singled out in your life, you have some reason that you've been stigmatized in your life, you've had some reason when you've been cornered in your life for being yourself, you can look at me and say, 'If she can do this, so can I.'"
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