Guam Has Just Elected Its First-Ever Female Governor

As voters in the 50 states wait and see whether women will make history on Election Day, a Democrat in Guam has just made some history of her own.

Lou Leon Guerrero, the current president of the Bank of Guam, has been elected the first female governor of the U.S. island territory, beating her incumbent opponent, Republican Lt. Gov. Ray Tenorio, by more than 8,600 votes, according to final unofficial results released 7 a.m. Wednesday morning local time.

Leon Guerrero will be the ninth elected governor of the U.S. territory. With running mate Joshua Tenorio, Leon Guerrero won 50.7 percent of votes cast, while Ray Tenorio and Tony Ada garnered 26.4 percent of votes. Leon Guerrero’s margin of victory is large enough to avoid a runoff, per the Pacific Daily News.

“We are extremely grateful for the opportunity given to us to make a positive change for all our people,” Leon Guerrero said, according to the outlet.

Democrat Mike San Nicolas was elected Guam’s non-voting delegate in the U.S. Congress, while Leevin Camacho will be the island territory’s next Attorney General. Democrats will also hold onto a majority in the territory’s 15-person legislature.

Guam has a population of over 160,000 people and is located about 4,000 miles west of Hawaii.

 

Write to Alejandro de la Garza at alejandro.delagarza@time.com.