Miss District of Columbia wins 2017 edition of Miss USA

LAS VEGAS -- The District of Columbia has won back-to-back Miss USA titles.

Kara McCullough, a 25-year-old chemist working for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, was crowned Sunday during the event that took place at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center on the Las Vegas Strip.

She will go on to compete on the Miss Universe contest.

The runner-up was Miss New Jersey Chhavi Verg, a student at Rutgers University studying marketing and Spanish.

The second runner-up was Miss Minnesota Meridith Gould, who is studying apparel retail merchandising at the University of Minnesota.

Fifty-one women representing each state and the nation's capital participated in the decades-old competition.

McCullough was born in Naples, Italy, and raised in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

She wants to inspire children to pursue careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Last year, District of Columbia resident Deshauna Barber became the first-ever military member to win Miss USA.

The three finalists all were asked to explain what they consider feminism to be and whether they consider themselves feminists.

They modeled their final looks of the night during a performance of Pitbull's "Options" featuring Stephen Marley.

The beauty pageant this year included five women who immigrated to the U.S. at a young age and as citizens hoped to represent the nation on a global stage.

Verg and the women representing Florida, North Dakota, Hawaii, Connecticut and New Jersey said this week they have faced challenges and opportunities as immigrants.

The contestants' remarks stand in contrast to the scandal that enveloped the pageant in 2015, when then-part owner and now U.S. President Donald Trump offended Hispanics when he made anti-immigrant remarks in announcing his bid for the White House.

Trump co-owned The Miss Universe Organization with NBCUniversal, but the network and the Spanish-language broadcaster Univision quickly cut ties with him, refusing to air the show.

Trump sued both networks, eventually settling and selling the pageant to talent management company WME/IMG.

The show began with a performance from a Cirque du Soleil show -- a Las Vegas staple -- based on Michael Jackson songs.

The contestants took the stage as Jackson's "Black or White" played and acrobats performed.

CMA Award-winner Brett Eldredge performed his new single "The Long Way" as the women modeled their evening gowns.

Julianne Hough, Ashley Graham and Terrence J. hosted the show.