Washington (CNN) On Tuesday night in Virginia, former journalist Danica Roem, a Democrat, knocked off 13-term Republican state Del. Bob Marshall. Roem's win quickly became a huge national news story as she became the first openly transgender person elected and seated to a state legislature in the US. What's more, her victory came against Marshall, who has called himself the state's 'chief homophobe.' For more on Roem and the race she ran, I reached out to Fenit Nirappil, who covered the race for The Washington Post. Our conversation, conducted via email and lightly edited for flow, is below.

Cillizza: Most people outside of northern Virginia (and even lots of people in NoVa) had never heard of Danica Roem before last night. So, tell us about her.

Nirappil: Danica has a joke on the campaign trail where she says "I'm Danica Roem, or as the Washington Post web editors like to call me, the transgender candidate."

But beyond the historic nature of her candidacy that drew her national attention, she also has the kind of local ties that candidate recruiters look for. Roem was raised in Prince William County, where the district is located, and came back home after college to work as a local newspaper reporter for nine years covering development, roads and other bread-and-butter issues.

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