Democratic nominees Mondaire Jones and Ritchie Torres made history on Tuesday by being elected to Congress.
Torres is the first openly-LGBTQ Afro-Latinx man to be elected to Congress, and Jones is the first Black, gay man to take a Congressional seat.
NYC council member Ritchie Torres was fighting for New York State’s 15 Congressional District, which covers the South Bronx. On hearing he’d won, Torres tweeted,
“Thank you. Tonight, we made history. It is the honor of a lifetime to represent the essential borough, the Bronx.”
He told reporters,
“It is the honor of a lifetime to represent a borough filled with essential workers who have risked their lives so that New York City could live. The Bronx is essential, and the vibrant, loving and talented people who live here have shown time and again their power, fortune and perseverance.
The Bronx is the heartbeat of New York City.”
Mondaire Jones is an attorney who also won his race for the 17th congressional district seat, encompassing Westchester and Rockland County.
One of those who voted for him was Hillary Clinton. The former Presidential candidate posted a photo of herself after she’d voted. Jones asked her who she’d voted for and she replied,
“You, of course.”
Yesterday Jones tweeted of how his grandmother,
“Used to clean homes in Congers [NY]. When daycare was too expensive, she took me with her. Now I get to run to represent the same people whose homes I watched my grandmother clean growing up.
My story, quintessentially, is that of the American Dream.”
#ConDRAGulations to you both!
Thank you.
— Ritchie Torres (@RitchieTorres) November 4, 2020
Tonight, we made history.
It is the honor of a lifetime to represent the essential borough, the Bronx. pic.twitter.com/9ykMiWgYk3
My grandmother used to clean homes in Congers. When daycare was too expensive, she took me with her. Now I get to run to represent the same people whose homes I watched my grandmother clean growing up.
— Mondaire Jones (@MondaireJones) November 3, 2020
My story, quintessentially, is that of the American Dream. #NY17Votes pic.twitter.com/PyHknx6xvL
(Photos, Facebook; via Queerty)
