A former utility executive from Vermont has become the first transgender candidate to win a major political party's nomination for governor. Christine Hallquist fought off three challengers and won the Democratic nomination for Vermont governor.

At the end of the night, it wasn't even that close. She won with 25 percent more votes than her closest competitor, James Ehlers.

She will go up against Gov. Phil Scott, R-Vermont, who easily won his party's nomination, defeating Keith Stern.

Hallquist watched the returns with her campaign team at the Skinny Pancake in downtown Burlington. And there was a level of energy there that we don't always see at primary campaigns. The number of cameras, the number of people-- it was standing room only.

Cheers erupted when The Associated Press called the race in Hallquist's favor around 9:30 p.m. Her supporters, like everyone else, aware that Hallquist made history Tuesday night as the first transgender gubernatorial candidate in the U.S.

But in an interview with WCAX News, she said this win proves her platform-- not gender identity-- are what Vermonters are voting for.

"Well, you know, when you heard that letter being read from that transgender woman outside of Washington, those are the kind of things that keep me going every day. I get those letters daily. And those letters, I can handle all the bigotry and all the grief in the world to know that I'm supporting people in a marginalized community. And it's not just about the transgender community, it's not just about the LGBTQ community, but all marginalized communities," Hallquist said.

Reporter Cat Viglienzoni: Unseating an incumbent has historically been very difficult. Exactly why do you feel like you can in November?

Christine Hallquist: Well, because all Phil [Scott] has is no new taxes. I have a plan to grow Vermont's economy. You know, it's one thing to just fight over the scraps on the table, but we gotta put more food on the table. And when you look at my fiber plan and the plan to build our communities with tax increment financing, Vermont needs a 20-year vision. Vermont needs a vision that goes beyond the candidate and beyond the governor. And that's what leaders should be doing. And I think Vermonters are waking up to the fact that they're not getting that out of their current leadership.

In her victory speech, she talked about several of her key issues, including raising the minimum wage, expanding internet access and tackling climate change. Those are issues that she plans to focus on moving forward toward the general election.

And it was not over for Hallquist after her win. Because of the historic nature of her win, she was slated to appear on national news networks into the night.

She said her campaign will take a couple days to celebrate and then get right back to work looking toward taking on Governor Scott in November.