Election Day welcomed some historic wins for representation.
Democrats Ritchie Torres and Mondaire Jones became the first openly gay Black men elected to Congress on Tuesday night (November 3).
Ritchie Torres, 32, will represent New York’s 15th District, while Mondaire Jones, 33, will represent New York’s 17th District in January.
“It is the honor of a lifetime to represent a borough filled with essential workers who risked their lives to that New York City could live. My pledge to the district is simple: I will fight for you. The Bronx is my home, it is what made me who I am, and it is what I will fight for in Congress,” said Ritchie in a statement.
As a councilmember, his victories include “legislation protecting the City’s affordable housing stock; improving mental health resources for the LGBT community; tackling the city’s opioid epidemic; and reforming the NYPD’s daily interactions with New Yorkers.”
Mondaire Jones previously served under the Obama administration in the Office of Legal Policy at the Department of Justice.
“I’m happy to be providing that kind of representation for so many young people and older people all throughout my district and all throughout this country who have reached out to me and said, ‘I’m so inspired by what you’re doing. You give me hope and I can be my authentic self in a world filled with so much injustice,’ and it’s really an honor to be able to do that,” he said to CBS.
Election results continue to come in – here’s the latest.
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
