Just days after Hillary Clinton's landmark Democratic nomination, another country took a big step toward gender equality, electing a woman to a previously male-dominated office. Yuriko Koike, a former environment minister and defense minister, made history Sunday as the first female governor elected in the city of Tokyo.
Not only did Koike win—she destroyed the competition. She didn’t even have the support of her party, the Liberal Democratic Party, and she still beat the party-backed Hiroya Misuda by over a million votes, according to CNN. Talk about a landslide.
Her platform focused on the economy, the environment and women’s rights, all issues extremely important to the bustling city. Japan’s commitment to host the 2020 Summer Olympics was a pressing issue for Koike as she campaigned, as was the lack of female representation in Tokyo business and politics. She told reporters, “The support [of women] made me think deeply that I have a responsibility to work on the issues of waiting lines for day care centers, elderly care and work-life balance.”
Her overwhelming victory proves that qualified, smart, capable political candidates can be either male or female. And regardless of politics, wins like Koike’s and Clinton’s signify gender inequality’s shift into obsolescence, just as it should be.