Results have been pouring in from Election Day yesterday, and in NYC there were some historic local wins.
One is Ritchie Torres, who was running for a seat in Congress. Torres will represent New York’s 15th Congressional District, encompassing The Bronx. He was born and raised in the borough, so he knows the issues it faces first hand. “As a product of public housing, public schools, and public hospitals, I had a dream of fighting for my community in the hopes of building a better Bronx,” his website reads.
First elected to the New York City Council in 2013 at the age of 25 (making him the youngest elected official in New York City and the first openly LGBT elected official from the Bronx), he has been representing Bronx communities on the City Council, and now will be doing so in the U.S. Congress.
He will also be the first openly gay member of Congress in the history of the NYC delegation.
According to his NY City Council page, his legislative 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.”
It’s official. We won! It is the honor of a lifetime to be able to serve our community in Washington DC. The counting took longer than expected, but today the @BOENYC certified our victory & I want to say thank you.. pic.twitter.com/j2ygMbQXSA
— Ritchie Torres (@RitchieTorres) August 4, 2020
For other NYC results: newcomer Jamaal Bowman is also officially projected to head to Congress, representing NY-16 (which includes The Bronx and parts of Westchester County), incumbent Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has come out ahead of her Republican opponent to be reelected to Congress, and Nicole Malliotakis is poised to win the Congressional seat for NY-11 (Staten Island and parts of Brooklyn) against incumbent Democratic Rep. Max Rose.
For the Presidential election, Joe Biden is predicted to be the winner of NY’s 29 electoral college votes, according to the Associated Press.
featured image source: Facebook / Ritchie Torres NY15