Ritchie Torres will be the first out Afro-Latinx person elected to Congress

As expected, New York City Councilmember Ritchie Torres has been elected to represent the New York State’s 15 Congressional District, which encompasses the South Bronx. Torres has earned 90 percent of the vote so far against his GOP opponent, Patrick Delices, with 40 percent of the precincts reporting.

With this win, the 32-year-old becomes the first out Afro-Latinx person elected to Congress. He is expected to be sworn in as one of the first Black LGBTQ members of Congress, along with Mondaire Jones, who ran in NY-17.

Torres overcame homophobic and anti-LGBTQ attacks both during the competitive Democratic primary and the general election, against a conservative in “the most Democratic district in the country.”

In June, Torres mustered an upset victory against the anti-LGBTQ opponent considered to be the favorite, fellow city councilman Ruben Diaz, Jr. The latter noticeably refused to talk to press after his loss was announced.

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On the road to the general election, Torres was called “a first class whore” by the New York Police Department’s Sergeant Benevolence Association (SBA).

Torres, along with Jones, was a nominee for LGBTQ Nation‘s Politician of the Year honor for this year’s LGBTQ Nation Heroes Awards. Torres was the runner-up.

“It’s one thing to have a representative in the gayborhoods of New York City and the United States. It’s another thing to have an LGBTQ representative in the places you might least expect it,” Torres told LGBTQ Nation in an interview this spring.