MA-07: Democrats battle over results, representation in Boston primary

[RandySF]

Ayanna Pressley is in a hurry.

The 44-year-old Boston city councilor, running to unseat veteran Democratic Rep. Mike Capuano with a slogan, "Change Can’t Wait," evoking President Obama’s insurgent 2008 presidential campaign, hammered that message home in a session with faith leaders and supporters at Roxbury Presbyterian Church on Sunday.

"Now is the time to be bold," Pressley, the granddaughter of a Baptist minister, said to cheers from the crowd. "This is not my moment, this is our moment."

Pressley, who served as an aide to former Sen. John Kerry and Rep. Joe Kennedy II, is the first woman of color to serve on the Boston city council, and is hoping to become the first African-American woman to represent Massachusetts in Washington.

Her campaign against Capuano — a former mayor of Somerville with a strong progressive record — seeks to harness the energy on the left following the surprise upset in New York of Rep. Joe Crowley, D-New York, a member of House Democratic leadership, by 28-year-old Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a former Bernie Sanders organizer and first-time candidate.

Pressley's supporters say that the representative of Massachusetts’s 7th Congressional District should be a leader in Washington and the party, forcing both to the left at a time when Democrats are grappling with their identity.

Once represented by John F. Kennedy, the state’s only majority-minority district is among the most socially and economically diverse in the country, stretching from Cambridge and Somerville to lower-income Boston neighborhoods like Roxbury and Mattapan.

"She’s really challenging us. She’s challenging Michael, for sure, but she’s challenging the voters of the district," John Walsh, a former Massachusetts Democratic Party chairman who has endorsed Pressley, told ABC News.

"When a choice comes within our party, I want the person I’ve sent to be pushing us to the left. And I think that’s really the opportunity with Ayanna," he said.


https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/democrats-battle-results-representation-boston-primary/story?id=57558625

[smirkymonkey]

1. This is going to be a tough race.

Capuano is ahead being a known quantity, but she is definitely giving him a run for his money. They are both very leftist candidates so I see this as a no-lose situation.

However Capuano has done a great job for his district and people are loath to go with an unknown challenger when they don't feel like there is anything that needs to be fixed.