<body><div><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=0Hwioy_1GoL3xZs00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=0Hwioy_1GoL3xZs00" width="1200" height="600" >HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) - This year’s election brought more than just new leadership to communities across the Shenandoah Valley. For some minority candidates, it marked historic firsts, knocking down barriers and creating new opportunities for representation in local government.Those include members of the Latino, Native, LGBTQ+ and Black communities. Harrisonburg’s first Black female mayor, Deanna Reed, said seeing that diversity in the results ‘put a smile on her face’.“It excites me seeing leadership that actually reflects more of our country. Right, women, people of color, people from all backgrounds that have historically been underrepresented,” she said.Reed added this shows that people believe in diversity and the importance of representation in leadership.“People want to see people who look like them in leadership roles, and so I think that’s something that we saw in the election on Tuesday that being inclusive matters, that bringing people together from different experiences, perspectives, cultures that matters,” she said.She said when she decided to run for city council, one of her top priorities was making sure minority youth knew that having a seat at the table was possible.“It was important for me for little girls to see themselves in me and to say she looks like me, or to say I can do this, right? And so that history matters. It really does, and especially as Harrisonburg becomes more diverse, it really, really matters,” Reed said.In the past nine years on City Council, Reed said Harrisonburg has already seen an increase in diverse leadership, and she believes communities both locally and throughout the country are finally moving forward.“Our council is majority-minority, and so we’re at a turning point, and I think it’s heading in the direction that we should have been heading in, you know, decades ago,” she said. “I am filled with so much pride to see those doors opening for others, and to see those glass ceilings being broken, and for this to pave the way for the next generation to come through those doors.”</div></body>

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HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) - This year’s election brought more than just new leadership to communities across the Shenandoah Valley. For some minority candidates, it marked historic firsts, knocking down barriers and creating new opportunities for representation in local government. Those include members of the Latino, Native, LGBTQ+ and Black...

Harrisonburg Mayor Reed speaks on 2026 election winners making history

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HARRISONBURG, Va. (WHSV) - This year’s election brought more than just new leadership to communities across the Shenandoah Valley. For some minority candid

Harrisonburg Mayor Reed speaks on 2026 election winners making history

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