Ritchie Torres and Mondaire Jones make history as the first black gay men elected to the US Congress as they win New York races
The first two openly gay black men - both from New York - have been elected to the United States Congress.
Ritchie Torres captured the House seat representing New York’s 15th congressional district on Tuesday.
Torres, a Democrat, won overwhelmingly in a blue district spanning the South Bronx.
Another gay black New Yorker, Mondaire Jones, also won his race for the seat representing the 17th congressional district encompassing Westchester and Rockland County, north of New York City.
Torres and Jones both won Democratic primaries in the spring to replace veteran Congress members who are retiring.
Ritchie Torres and Mondaire Jones made history on Tuesday, becoming the first openly gay black men to be elected to Congress
'Tonight, we made history,' Torres tweeted after his victory late on Tuesday
Torres released a statement saying: 'Tonight, a new era begins for the South Bronx'
Torres, who identifies as Afro-Latino, has been a member of the New York City Council since 2014.
The congressional district in the Bronx he will represent is one of the poorest and most Democratic in the nation.
'Tonight, a new era begins for the South Bronx,' Torres said in a statement.
CollectivePAC tweeted that Torres was a 'history maker' while declaring: 'The year of the black candidate is here'
Human Rights Campaign, one of the most influential LGBTQ advocacy organizations, congratulated Torres
'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.'
Torres continued: 'We are at a crossroads in the Bronx and in our nation.
'The scourge of COVID-19 has laid bare the inequalities that for too long have been allowed to fester in our communities.
'The hit our neighborhoods have taken is stark, with a pandemic laid over an economic disaster with a recovery that helps only those at the top, not at the bottom.'
Jones is a 33-year-old black lawyer who ran with the backing of progressives including Senator Bernie Sanders and House Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in a district that includes all of Rockland county and part of Westchester County.
The Republican candidate that Jones defeated in the race to succeed House Rep. Nita Lowey is Maureen McArdle Schulman.
Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state and the first woman to be a major party nominee for president, tweeted that she cast her ballot for Jones. After Clinton posted a photo of herself outside the polling station after she voted in her hometown of Chappaqua, New York
Jones then asked: 'Who did you vote for in the congressional??' Clinton replied: 'You, of course'
Hillary Clinton, the former secretary of state and the first woman to be a major party nominee for president, tweeted that she cast her ballot for Jones.
After Clinton posted a photo of herself outside the polling station after she voted in her hometown of Chappaqua, New York.
'Just voted. Felt good,' Clinton tweeted.
Jones then asked: 'Who did you vote for in the congressional??'
'You, of course,' Clinton replied.
Openly gay white people have served in Congress since the 1980s, as well as at least one black congresswoman who chose not to speak publicly about her sexuality, the late House Rep. Barbara Jordan, of Texas.
The first openly gay person to represent New York in Congress, House Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, was first elected in 2012.
The Democrat is now seeking a fifth term in a race against Republican Chele Farley.
More than 3.7 million votes, a record, were cast in New York before the polls even opened on Election Day.
That includes more than 2.5 million ballots from early voting and at least 1.2 million absentee ballots, according to the state Board of Elections.
New Yorkers also chose Democrat Joe Biden for president and were awaiting results in many other congressional and state legislative races.
Biden’s victory in New York over Republican President Donald Trump was widely expected and was called by The Associated Press shortly after the polls closed at 9pm.
The former vice president takes the state’s 29 Electoral College votes.
The national race for president remains undecided in an election where in-person campaigning was limited and volunteers in many places couldn’t go door-to-door to get out the vote.