November 4th was a historic day for the LGBTQ community as Ritchie Torres was elected as the first openly gay black man in US congress.
Torres defeated republican candidate Patrick Delices by a substantial margin to become the next representative from New York’s 15th congressional district.
Torres thanked for the magnificent support and tweeted “It is the honour of a lifetime to represent the essential borough, the Bronx.”
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Thank you.
Tonight, we made history.
It is the honor of a lifetime to represent the essential borough, the Bronx. pic.twitter.com/9ykMiWgYk3
— Ritchie Torres (@RitchieTorres) November 4, 2020
He further stated that the Bronx is essential, and the vigorous, passionate, and talented people who live here have shown time and again their power, fortune, and resolve.
The youngest member of New York city council since 2013, 32-year-old Torres identified himself as an Afro-Latino. He announced his candidacy to succeed Jose. E. Serrano in July 2019. His primary focus was on taxi medallion, predatory loans, and the city’s third-party transfer program as the head of oversight and investigations committee
Torres defeated several democrats in June primary before contesting against republican Patrick Delices, a former educator at Hunter College for Caribbean sciences.
Mondaire jones, a 33-year-old graduate from Harvard and a former Westchester court attorney has joined Torres as another gay black man replacing retiring Nita Lowry from Westchester county.
Annise Parker, president, and CEO of LGBTQ Victory Fund and former mayor of Houston endorsed both Torres and Mondaire. She said “ As our nation fights with racism, police brutality and a pandemic that disproportionately affects people of colour and LGBTQ people, these are the voices that can pull us from the verge and to a more united and fair society,”
