Boston City Councilor Ayanna Pressley announced Tuesday she is running for a seat in the United States House of Representatives. Pressley, who was elected as the first woman of color to City Council, will be running against a fellow Democrat, incumbent Rep. Michael Capuano.
Ryan Hand, communications director for Ayanna Pressley, said Pressley is running to continue advocating her city council work at the federal level.
“[Choosing to run] was a question of really following [Ayanna’s] work as both an elected official and as an activist to Washington, D.C.,” Hand said. “She has been a consistent advocate for the rights of women and girls and has championed a lot of these issues here in Boston that haven’t really been brought up before.”
Cheryl Lang, 24, of Kenmore, said more women of color, like Ayanna Pressley, should be represented in politics especially.
“It’s very important because women of color, especially, are very underrepresented especially in politics,” Lang said. “With all that our country is going through politically, to have a woman, especially of color running for [office] … I think it will make positive strides for our political system if we get more people like that in power.”
Hand said Pressley’s choice to run for office is not against a specific person or party, but rather against social issues that have persisted for years in the 7th Congressional District of Massachusetts, where she will be running to represent.
“This race isn’t really about Michael Capuano, her opponent, and it’s not about Ayanna Pressley,” Hand said. “The issues that have affected this congressional district and, really, the entire country, predate Michael Capuano in the House of Representatives.”
Hand said Pressley, if elected, will bring overlooked issues, such as transit equity in the country, to light in Congress.
“Some of the suburban places in this district, whether that’s Randolph that don’t have access to a good, equitable public transit system, those policies are not neutral,” Hand said. “Those policies were oftentimes rooted in endemic, racist policies that were designed to keep minority communities out of more traditionally affluent and more traditionally white communities.”
Anastasia Yogas, 23, of Brighton, said she appreciates that Pressley prioritizes the interests of the people of her city council district, such as in her efforts to loosen restrictions on liquor-selling permits in minority areas of Boston.
“She has always put people of her district first,” Yogas said. “She has been a forceful front for liquor laws and … liquor permits and allowing the sections of cities, like Dorchester and Mattapan and Roxbury, to be able to get liquor permits … Downtown areas can open bars and restaurants and family centers and they can thrive off these things and they can revitalize their main streets instead of just focusing on the North End and Newbury, where money already is.”
Sidney Trantham, 49, of South End, said he supports Pressley’s run for Congress and hopes she addressing the needs of the poor especially.
“I think we need more people like her representing us from Massachusetts,” Trantham said. “I think one of the biggest things I’m most concerned about is addressing the needs of the poor. I think the poor have been ignored for a long time.”
After Pressley’s formal announcement via Twitter, Capuano wrote in a Facebook post that he is looking forward to the election.
“This election is a great opportunity to highlight my aggressive progressive record, opposing Trump and standing up to Republicans in Washington,” Capuano wrote. “I will never stop fighting for the interests of my constituents.”
Annissa Essaibi George, another Boston City Councilor, said during the two years she has served on the council with Pressley, she has seen her passionately work to serve her constituents.
“In the past two years, I’ve had a front row seat to Ayanna’s work and [been able] to really witness the passion of her work and her desire to serve, especially those that are less privileged that have greater challenges, have greater vulnerabilities and who really need the advocacy at that level,” Essaibi George said.
Kenneth Cosgrove, an associate professor of government at Suffolk University, wrote in an email that this race reflects a policy split in the Democratic Party.
“The policy split is over standard liberal policies over things like immigration … I would think this is one of the motivators in this race,” Cosgrove wrote. “Capuano is in favor of a standard immigration policy and has been criticized by some in his district who would like something more permissive in terms of numbers of people allowed to come to the country.”
Sarika Ram contributed to the reporting of this article.
