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Danica Roem is that she gets asked about the similarities between heavy metal music and local politics a lot. “That question is actually surprisingly common,” says the Virginia state delegate, who made national headlines in 2017 after defeating a long-serving Republican in her home district and becoming the first openly transgender politician to be elected to and seated in a U.S. state legislature. And yet the insights that Roem has applied, that came out in April.) She explains how to get things done in a political climate known more for paralysis than productivity.