New Orleans has elected its first female mayor in the city’s history.

Fox 8 News projected Saturday night that LaToya Cantrell would be elected mayor of New Orleans.

Cantrell, a former New Orleans city council member and a Democrat, defeated opponent Desiree Charbonnet to win the election. She succeeds Mayor Mitch Landrieu.

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"Almost 300 years, my friends, and New Orleans, we're still making history," Cantrell told supporters, according to The Times-Picayune.

Cantrell ran on a platform advocating criminal justice reform, creating an LGBTQ outreach office at city hall and increasing affordable housing in the city, according to her campaign website.



Cantrell’s victory follows a wave of historic mayoral elections in recent weeks, including the city of Seattle electing its first lesbian mayor; Helena, Mont., electing a Liberian refugee as its mayor and the city of St. Paul, Minn., electing its first African-American mayor.