Making herstory! Virginia Raggi is Rome’s very first female mayor

Rome as a city is over 2,700 years old, but they have just (like this week) elected their first female mayor. It’s about time!

The woman to take on the job is Virginia Raggi, a 37-year-old councilwoman and lawyer. She is a member of the populist Five Star Movement and her win is in direct party opposition to Italy’s serving prime minister. Her Sunday win (she took 67% of the vote) comes after Raggi ran on a strong anticorruption campaign, vowing to cleanup a city that is plagued by widespread misconduct on all levels.

“A new era is beginning with us,” Raggi said after winning. “We’ll work to bring back legality and transparency to the city’s institutions.”

Raggi, a native Roman, is a mom and was vocal about that important part of her life while on the campaign trail. The Associated Press detailed how Raggi’s motherhood inspired her to run for political office: “Raggi said she drew on her experiences as a mother in Rome in deciding she had something to offer if she becomes the city’s first female mayor. She cites rundown playgrounds and chaotic traffic, including chronic double-parking making it difficult to maneuver baby strollers.”

Congratulations to Raggi. We’re proud to see a woman mayor in Rome and love that her female perspective is being employed to help make the city a better place.