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A Black Lives Matter activist in Iowa made history on Election Day (November 2) becoming the youngest member of the Des Moines City Council.
Indira Sheumaker, 27, earned 46% of the city's votes, defeating a two-term incumbent to not only be the only council member under 30 but the only council member of color. Her win in Iowa is notable, too, as other social justice activists who ran in local elections across the country didn't claim victories.
Sheumaker has no prior political experience and her campaign platform included several hot button issues like support of the Defund The Police movement, decriminalizing marijuana in Iowa's capital city.
"We'd been talked down to a lot by people saying, 'You can't win on defund' –– we said let's see if that's true," Sheumaker told NBC News.
"We won on defund because people were inspired by our message, they wanted somebody who wasn't afraid," she added. "And we didn't win saying we want to make Des Moines less safe, we ran saying we wanted to make Des Moines more safe, and that is the message of Defund."
Iowa, in recent elections, has been a toss-up contest for Democrats –– especially during presidential races –– as the state legislature continues to lean Republican.
Check out more of Indira Sheumaker's message here.
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