Ritchie Torres of the Democratic Party has made history by becoming the first openly gay black man elected to the United States Congress. Torres, 32, a member of the New York City Council, won the election for New York’s 15th Congressional District, defeating Republican Patrick Delices to become the next representative, the New York Daily News reported.
“Tonight, a new era begins for the South Bronx,” Torres said in a statement. “It is the honor of a lifetime to represent a city full of essential workers who have risked their lives so New York City could live.
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“The Bronx is essential, and the vibrant, loving, and talented people who live here have proven time and again their power, fortune, and perseverance. The Bronx is the heart of New York City, ”he said. Torres, who identified himself as Afro-Latino, has served on the City Council since 2013. He defeated nearly a dozen Democrats in the June primaries after Republican José Serrano announced his retirement earlier this year.
Torres is expected to be joined by another black gay man, Mondaire Jones, in the United States House of Representatives, as results were pending in the race to replace retired Republican Nita Lowey of Westchester County. The seat is expected to go to Jones, 33, a Harvard Law School graduate and former Westchester County prosecutor, who was running Republican Maureen McArdle Schulman at midnight, according to the report. Annise Parker, a former Houston mayor and president and CEO of the LGBTQ Victory Fund, a group that backed both Torres and Jones, applauded the couple.
“Mondaire and Ritchie have broken through a rainbow ceiling and will bring unique perspectives based on lived experiences never before represented in the United States Congress,” Parker said in a statement.
“As our nation battles racism, police brutality, and a pandemic that disproportionately affects people of color and LGBTQ, these are the voices that can pull us off the edge and into a more united and just society.”
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