The Coachella Valley Sees Historic Wins for Women

As election results started pouring in, across The Coachella Valley it was a historic win for women in multiple cities. NBC Palm Springs spoke to the first of many, the first Latina elected to the city council in Palm Desert, the first woman to hold a mayoral position in Palm Springs, and a first-generation Latina who will take a seat on the city council in Coachella. By 2 a.m. Wednesday morning, 100% of precincts were reported in Riverside County, proving some historic results for The Coachella Valley. In Palm Desert, the first Latin member to fill a seat on the city council, Karina Quintanilla who won with 61% of the vote for District 1. "There may be a slight shift, I think that it’s pretty clear that the people of palm desert have spoken of what they want the new district to look like and what it will, values that it will hold. and I think that they’ve spoken in terms of supporting my platform which is five districts, and public health, and growing cal-state," said Quintanilla. And in Palm Springs, it will be the first time a woman is a mayor as Christy Holstege earned roughly 58% of the vote after facing an intense, sometimes controversial campaign. "I’m just really grateful to the voters of palm springs for trusting me with their votes. in 83 years, in the city of palm springs, we’ve never had a female mayor, it’s kind of shocking, it should have been 50 or 83 years ago," said Holstege. And in Coachella, a first-generation Latina will be filling one of two seats on city council taking 34% of the votes in that local race. "I could not be more appreciative of the amount of support that we have received from Coachella residents. sisterhood has grown in The Coachella Valley among many female candidates and it’s just very nice to see that we’re understanding how challenging for females to run," said Denise Delgado, Candidate for Coachella City Council." "The first Latina is so historic, to get that win in palm desert and other places are just a huge moment for The Coachella Valley and I think we’ll see more and more voices who have been underrepresented in city council levels," added Holstege. All women faced tough campaigns with backlash but say they are all very proud of the roles that women are taking in The Coachella Valley and look to supporting one another in the future.