Former Metal Musician Danica Roem Becomes First Openly Trans Person to Win Re-Election

Danica Roem the former lead vocalist for the thrash metal band Cab Ride Home, and the first openly transgender official to become elected to state legislature, has won re-election in her home state of Virginia. She beat her challenger Kelly McGinn with 56 percent of the vote to win her seat as member of the Virginia House of Delegates
from the 13th district, becoming the first out transgender person to be re-elected.

“To the people of the 13th District,” she wrote on social media, following her second historic win, “Thank you so much for the confidence you’ve shown in my team and me by such an overwhelming margin. I’m grateful to represent you because of who you are – never despite it. #NoH8 I’ll see you Nov. 20 at our next #fixRoute28 public hearing at 6 p.m. at Cougar Elementary School in Manassas Park.”

Roem won her first election campaign against Bob Marshall, a 13-term incumbent representative by a narrow margin, securing 53.72 percent of the vote over Marchall’s 45.89 percent. Marshall is a self-described “chief homophobe” and sponsored Virginia’s bill to end same-sex marriage and Virginia’s bathroom bill.

Prior to her career as a politician Roem was a reporter for the Gainesville Times and Prince William Times. In August 2015, she worked as a news editor for the Montgomery County Sentinel in Rockville, Maryland where she worked for a year. The Advocate has named her Person of The Year, and she was included on the cover of Time Magazine in their “The Avengers” feature, documenting historic women candidates and elected officials.