Exciting things are happening in the New York primary. Although final results won't be in for another week because most New Yorkers opted for absentee ballots, early results suggest New York City councilman Ritchie Torres and Mondaire Jones will win their primaries and ultimately become the first openly gay, black members of Congress.
Torres looks set to defeat a crowded field that includes uber-homophobe Ruben Diaz, Sr., the New York Post reports: “Councilman Ritchie Torres broke out to an early lead Tuesday night in the hotly contested battle for an open Bronx congressional seat, as the openly gay city lawmaker appeared to turn away a challenge from one of New York's most high-profile conservative politicians. Torres led the crowded field to replace retiring Rep. Jose Serrano (D-Bronx) with 30 percent of the votes cast during early voting and Primary Day, according to returns from 61 percent of precincts.
LoHud reports on the race for retiring Rep. Nita Lowey's seat, which Jones looks likely to take: “Lowey, the first woman to chair the House Appropriations Committee, has been in office for more than three decades and has been an ally of Hillary and Bill Clinton and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. … Jones, 33, a former Westchester County law department employee, would be the first openly gay Black member of Congress if he ends up winning election. He had jumped in the race a year ago, ready to primary Lowey from the left before she announced her retirement…. The district is reliably blue and stretches from Rockland County into Westchester County. Active registered Democrats outnumber Republicans more than 2-to-1 in the district.”
