Yet another Black woman has shattered the political ceiling in 2016.
Former Louisiana State Senator Sharon Weston Broome was officially declared victorious in the Baton Rouge mayoral race on December 10. Broome defeated Senator Bodi White to come away with the win and will succeed the city’s first African-American mayor as the first African-American woman to hold the office.
“Tonight Baton Rouge made a statement, a statement that we are a city of inclusion,” said Broome, according to the NOLA website. “This is an opportunity to rise from the ashes of the past six months and write a new chapter, a new chapter that we can all be proud of.”
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The newly elected mayor is a Chicago native who began her political career with the Baton Rouge Metro Council, before going on to serve 20 years in the Louisiana Legislature. Broome’s campaign focused much on unifying Baton Rouge and strengthening the local African-American community following a trying year that saw the city divided in the wake of the highly publicized police killing of Black father Alton Sterling.
“During the campaign I met so many people across this parish,” she added. “I have seen in your faces the passion for a better tomorrow, and I am humbled to have the opportunity to work with you to build a stronger, a more unified and a more progressive Baton Rouge.”