Race upset: black Democrat Ayanna Pressley takes aim at Donald Trump after beating 10-term incumbent
Similarities have been drawn between Ayanna Pressley and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, the political novice who defeated Democratic Party grandee Joe Crowley in a New York primary in June
An African-American woman pulled off an upset victory in a Democratic primary contest against a 10-term entrenched male incumbent in Boston, the latest sign that insurgent US candidates from the left are gaining ground.
Ayanna Pressley, 44, won the Democratic nomination for the US House of Representatives in Massachusetts’s seventh district, one of the most left-leaning in America and which includes Harvard University.
The Chicago-raised activist faces no Republican rival for the district, leaving her free to focus on President Donald Trump.
“Our president is a racist, misogynistic, truly empathy-bankrupt man,” Pressley told supporters on Tuesday night.
“It is time to show Washington, DC, both my fellow Democrats who I hope will stand with us and Republicans who may stand in our way ... change is coming and the future belongs to all of us.”
Trump has angered Democrats with his comments describing some immigrants as criminals, verbal attacks on black professional athletes protesting against racism and Twitter slaps at female politicians.