LEESBURG, Va. (WUSA9) -- Voters in Loudoun County made history Tuesday night by electing the first woman of color to a county board Chairman post in the state of Virginia.
Phyllis Randall and Koran Saines are also the first African Americans elected to the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors in the county's 257-year-old history.
Randall beat longtime chairman Scott York for the county-wide chairman seat becoming the first woman of color county chairman not only in Loudoun, but in the entire state.
Randall said that a lot of people have paved the pathway for her and she's humbled voters have given her the opportunity to serve.
Saines, who will serve as Sterling Supervisor, ousted 15-year incumbent Eugene DelGuadio, an outspoken opponent of gay rights who was suspected of using his taxpayer-funded county office and employees for campaign work. The Board formally censured him and stripped him of his staff.
"Ethics and transparency have been a key point in my campaign and I look forward to following through on that promise," Randall said.
Randall and Saines hope to increase transportation options and bring full day kindergarten to Loudoun.
Saines had his first taste of politics when he joined Broad Run High School's Model General Assembly. And in 2008, he was moved by Barak Obama's speech to be the change.
"I felt that he was speaking to me, so I jumped off the couch and signed up," Saines said.
But before he signed up to run for county supervisor, he had to ask his 9-year-old son Gabriel for permission first.
"He said, go ahead, Dad. So I wouldn't be here with him. So, thank you, Gabriel!" Saines said.
The election was a turn-around for Eugene Delguadio and Scott York. They were the only incumbents to win re-election in 2011 during the first-ever Republican sweep of the county board.
This time, three Democrats and six Republican incumbents were elected to the board.
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