Danica Roem won her seat in the Virginia House of Delegates in a shock victory against Republican state Del. Bob Marshall in November.
Today, Roem has been sworn in, and took her seat in the House of Delegates for the first time.
Roem's opponent Marshall had held the seat for 13 terms, and pushed fiercely anti-LGBTQI+ rhetoric and policies, including Virginia's anti-marriage equality ban, and an unsuccessful anti-trans bathroom bill similar to the one in North Carolina.
Marshall refused to debate Roem throughout the campaigning period, and also made a point of misgendering her and using incorrect pronouns when referring to her during interviews.
Roem refused to retaliate to Marshall's actions however, telling media after her victory, "I don’t attack my constituents. Bob is my constituent now.”
After successfully winning the position in November, Roem told audiences at Virginia Governor Ralph Northam’s victory party that her success came from championing her trans identity: "We won because I am a transgender woman… because of my inherent identifiers not despite them. I never ran away from them. I championed them.”
