CLEVELAND — Editor's note: The video in the player above is from a previously published, unrelated story.
Just hours after her decisive win over GOP candidate Laverne Gore in the race for Ohio's 11th Congressional District, newly elected U.S. Representative Shontel Brown was seen catching a flight to Washington D.C. from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.
"I'm feeling very relieved, very ecstatic," Brown told 3News crews at the airport Wednesday morning. "I'm going to hit the ground and get to work. I've already got calls from multiple leaders from Washington, so I'm headed to D.C. to deliver for the people. There's some big votes ahead, and I'm ready to do the hard work that the people elected me to do."
Brown took home just under 80% of the vote in Tuesday's election, a more than 59,000-vote lead in the district which holds parts of Cleveland and Akron.
The politician replaces acting Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge, who was appointed to the position by President Joe Biden early this year. Brown won the Democratic primary earlier this year over Nina Turner, a former Cleveland City councilwoman and Ohio state senator favored by progressives in the area.
The new 11th Congressional District representative has been in politics for the last 10 years, first serving on the Warrensville Heights City Council before being elected to Cuyahoga County's 9th district seat in 2014.
As for whether or not the newly elected Congresswoman got any sleep last night after the election, Brown says it was the first night of good rest she's gotten in almost a year.
"It was the most restful night I've had since December," Brown told 3News.
MORE NORTHEAST OHIO ELECTION COVERAGE: