RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - A former journalist who sings in a metal band in her spare time has unseated one of Virginia's most socially conservative lawmakers to become the first openly transgender member of the House of Delegates.
Democrat Danica Roem defeated Republican incumbent Bob Marshall, winning 54 percent of the 22,000 votes cast in the northern Virginia House of Delegates district outside the nation's capital.
Marshall has served in the House since 1992 and has been a lightning rod for controversy. He has often drawn the ire of even his own party.
Roem will make history as the first openly transgender person elected and seated in a state legislature. But her gender identity wasn't a key part of her campaign. Instead, she focused on jobs, schools and northern Virginia's traffic congestion.