Virginia elects woman who gave president the finger

Ms Briskman says she doesn't regret making the gesture, despite losing her job

A woman who was fired for raising her middle finger at US President Donald Trump's motorcade has been elected to local office in Virginia.

Juli Briskman's hand gesture went viral in 2017, leading to her losing a job with a government contractor.

The single mother won more than 52% of the vote to be elected district representative in Loudoun county.

At the state level, US Democrats have seized full control of the Virginia legislature.

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A picture of Ms Briskman cycling and "flipping off" President Trump's motorcade as it passed her spread across the internet in October 2017.

Shortly after, Ms Briskman used the image as a profile picture on her social media accounts.

Her employer, Akima LLC, said the image was "lewd" and "obscene" and fired her for violating its social media policies, she told the Huffington Post.

The company did not respond to the BBC's request for comment at the time.

Ms Briskman had reportedly been working as a marketing analyst for the government contractor for six months, but said she didn't regret making the gesture.

On Tuesday night, Ms Briskman celebrated her election in a tweet linking to the offending image.

Ms Briskman told AFP she ran on a platform prioritising education, woman's rights and environmental issues.

She added her campaign showed she was more than "just the person that rode my bike one day and flipped off the president".

The results of the state elections mean the Democrats have full control of both legislative chambers in Virginia for the first time in more than 20 years.