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Connections

Breaking political glass ceilings

Four smiling people wearing headphones sit around a table in a radio talk studio: a woman front left has short dark hair and is wearing a beige top, a turquoise necklace, a dark blazer, jeans, and brown shoes; a woman back left has short dark hair and is wearing a black top and necklace; a man back center is bald and is wearing a plaid shirt under a blue suit coat; a man at right has short dark hair and is wearing a purple and white checked button-down shirt, jeans, and brown shoes
Mary Hussong-Kallen
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WXXI News
(foreground) Jenn Townsend, (background) Amorette Miller, and Kevin Berry with host Evan Dawson on "Connections with Evan Dawson" on Friday, November 14, 2025
WXXI News

A number of local political races resulted in historic wins...and the breaking of what are often known as glass ceilings.

Penfield elected its first Democratic town supervisor, Kevin Berry, in four decades. Berry is also the first LGBTQ+ supervisor for the town. In Perinton, Jenn Townsend will become the first Democrat to lead the town since 1918 — and she's the first woman to hold the position. In Greece, Amorette Miller is the first woman of color to serve on the town board, and the first Democrat in her ward.

All three winners join us to discuss the significance of their victories and what they mean for their communities.

Our guests:

*Note: We also invited Jeff McCann, Greece town supervisor-elect, to join this conversation. He was unavailable to participate, so we've offered him alternate dates.

Evan Dawson is the host of "Connections with Evan Dawson." He joined WXXI in January 2014 after working at 13WHAM-TV, where he served as morning news anchor. He was hired as a reporter for 13WHAM-TV in 2003 before being promoted to anchor in 2007.
Megan Mack is the executive producer of "Connections with Evan Dawson" and live/televised engagement programming.
Julie Williams is an associate producer for "Connections with Evan Dawson." She started at WXXI in 2019 and has been working on Connections since 2022.