Ritchie Torres is heading to Washington D.C. after a historic win…
The 32-year-old New York-born half-Puerto Rican politician, a New York City Council member, overwhelmingly defeated Republican Patrick Delices, to win a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in New York’s 15th Congressional District.
In the process, Torres has become the first openly gay LGBTQ Afro-Latino member of the U.S. Congress.
“Tonight, we made history,” he tweeted. “It is the honor of a lifetime to represent the essential borough, the Bronx.”
“I hope I can represent the possibility that a poor kid, a kid of color, a LGBTQ kid from a place like the Bronx, can overcome the odds and become a member of the United States Congress,” he said.
Torres will assume office on January 3, 2021
Torres will succeed Democratic Rep. Jose Serrano, who is retiring after 30 years in Congress. Torres told CNN that his “highest priority” is “the affordability crisis” in housing, and would work to expand the child tax credit to alleviate child poverty.
He said if Democrats take the White House and Congress, they would have a “once in a century opportunity to govern as boldly in the 21st century as FDR did in the 20th century.” Torres wants to “rebalance” the Supreme Court with additional justices and said if Puerto Rico votes in a referendum this November for statehood, then Congress “will have an obligation to act upon what the people voted for.”
