RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A Virginia woman who is set to become the first openly transgender person to serve in a state legislature in the U.S. is brushing off her historic win over one of the state’s most conservative lawmakers.

Democrat Danica Roem tells FOX 5 in Washington that she ran on a platform to improve the areas congested roads and make the General Assembly more transparent.

Roem is a former reporter who sings in a metal band in her spare time. She defeated long-time Republican Del. Bob Marshall, winning 54 percent of the 22,000 votes cast in the northern Virginia House of Delegates district outside the nation’s capital.