September 4, 2018

Ayanna Pressley Just Pulled Off a Historic Upset in Massachusetts

She follows Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Andrew Gillum in taking on the Democratic establishment—and winning.

Ayanna Pressley for Congress/YouTube

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Democrat Ayanna Pressley on Tuesday defeated 10-term incumbent Rep. Michael Capuano in one of the biggest upsets of this year’s primary season. With no Republican challenger, she will almost certainly go on to represent Massachusetts’ 7th Congressional District, which is solidly blue and the only majority-minority district in the state.

Pressley, a 44-year-old Chicago native and Boston city council member, joins New York progressive Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in a growing list of women and men of color challenging establishment Democrats from the left—and winning. Just last week, Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum won a surprise victory in Florida’s Democratic gubernatorial primary, and if he prevails in November, he will become the first black governor in the state’s history. Stacey Abrams, who won Georgia’s Democratic gubernatorial primary, would be the first black female governor in any state.

Pressley is backed by Ocasio-Cortez, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey, and the Boston Globe, and is running on several key liberal issues, including gun control, fighting income inequality, and “empowering women and girls.” Pressley campaigned with the slogan, “Change can’t wait” and released this video, titled “The Power of US,” a few days before Tuesday’s primary:

Tuesday’s election results are another example of voters showing fatigue with well-funded establishment Democrats. Following Ocasio-Cortez’s surprise win over Rep. Joseph Crowley in June, many eyes turned to Pressley, who, according to the Federal Election Commission, raised just about half as much as Capuano. On top of that, Capuano had several high-profile endorsements—from Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, former Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick, and even the Congressional Black Caucus Political Action Committee, which called Capuano a “strong, committed partner” on issues impacting the black community.

But, as Pressley told the Washington Post, a “progressive voting record in the most progressive seat in the country is not enough.” She added, “This district deserves bold, activist leadership! The only way we can beat the hate coming out from Washington is not with a vote—it’s with a movement!”

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

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