Decades ago, Nick Brown competed on the hit TV show Survivor. Today, he’s making history as the first Black person elected attorney general in Washington state. He defeated Republican Pete Serrano, the mayor of Pasco by 56.3%, replacing Bob Ferguson, who served three terms, The Seattle Times reported.

The Washington State Democrats held an election watch party at the Seattle Convention Center. Brown attended and vowed to fight for civil rights, abortion rights and “environmental protection” despite their fears tied to Project 2025.

“There is so much for me to build upon from the work that Bob and his team have done to defend the rights of Washingtonians,” he said, per The Seattle Times. “I plan on picking up that baton in the days ahead.”

Although Brown didn’t win Survivor: The Australian Outback edition in 2001, he placed seventh in season 2. Before his stint on Survivor, Brown always set out to be a lawyer. When the Morehouse graduate returned home, he earned his law degree from J.D. from Harvard Law School in 2003, according to KCPQ.

“I never aspired to be anything other than what I was on the path to being, but I loved the adventure and the excitement and craziness of doing this reality TV show,” he said in an interview with theGrio earlier this year.

Brown started his legal journey as an Army lawyer, serving in Iraq in 2005. Afterward, he joined a Seattle law firm, worked as an assistant U.S. attorney and served as general counsel to Governor Jay Inslee. In 2021, he was appointed U.S. attorney for Western Washington and Brown rejoined his former law firm and announced his bid for attorney general.

Brown acknowledged that becoming the first person to accomplish such a major milestone would be significant, but it’s about the bigger picture.

“We’ve got a long way … to fully be inclusive and to fully include people’s voices and to make sure we’re not ignoring people that have been ignored for generations,” he said, per TheGrio.

2024 Electionattorney generalSurvivorWashington state