NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — New York Democrats Mondaire Jones and Ritchie Torres have become the first openly gay Black men elected to Congress.
Ritchie Torres, a 32-year-old New York City Council member who identifies as Afro-Latino, won election to a seat representing the South Bronx.
Torres has been a member of the New York City Council since 2014.
He defeated Republican Patrick Delices in the race to succeed U.S. Rep. Jose Serrano, who is retiring. The congressional district Torres will represent is one of the poorest in the nation.
"I am honored to have become the first openly LGBTQ Afro-Latino member of Congress in the United States and I hope that my example can inspire others," Torres told WCBS 880's Lynda Lopez. "I hope that I represent the possibility that a poor kid or an LGBTQ kid or a kid of color from places like the Bronx can overcome the odds and become a member of the world's greatest legislature."
Torres said his highest-priority will be to put more money in the pockets of essential workers by expanding the earned income tax credit and child tax credit.
"The South Bronx has historically been known to be the poorest Congressional district in America, but COVID-19 has shown the South Bronx to be the essential Congressional district," he said. "It's the home of essential workers who put their lives on the line so that most of us could safely shelter in place and we owe it to those workers to create a society that treats them and pays them with the decency and dignity that they deserve."
The LGBTQ Victory Fund, which works to raise the visibility of LGBTQ people at all levels of office, said in a statement, "Most would have thought New York City’s first LGBTQ member of Congress would be from Chelsea or Greenwich Village or Hell’s Kitchen, but the Bronx beat them to it ... Ritchie’s lived experience as an out LGBTQ Afro-Latinx man will bring an essential perspective to Capitol Hill ... He will become a role model for LGBTQ youth in the Bronx and beyond.”
Jones, a 33-year-old lawyer who ran with the backing of progressives including U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, was in a close race with Republican Maureen McArdle Schulman in a district that includes all of Rockland county and part of Westchester County.
Jones is a 33-year-old attorney. He'll take over from Rep. Nita Lowey, who is retiring after more than three decades in Congress.
Jones defeated opponents including Republican Maureen McArdle Schulman and Conservative Party candidate Yehudis Gottesfeld.
Jones grew up in subsidized housing then went to Stanford University and Harvard Law School. In a tough Democratic primary earlier this year he beat a list of polished opponents after getting endorsements from top progressive leaders.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.