Pressley makes history; Baker, Warren re-elected

At 8:01 p.m., Associated Press declared Ayanna Pressley would become the first black woman member of Congress from Massachusetts, since she had no opposition in her race in the 7th Congressional District, after defeating incumbent Mike Capuano in the September primary.

Pressley's ascension from the Boston City Council to Congress means perennial candidate Althea Garrison will become an at-large city councilor in January, since she is losing in a rout in the 5th Suffolk state rep's race to Liz Miranda, who will replace Evandro Carvalho.

Speaking to her supporters, Pressley said she was not going to deliver a victory speech. Only when we have "equity, justice and equality," she said, will she deliver one.

Pressley said women of color don't face just a glass ceiling, but a concrete one. "But you know what breaks through concrete? Seismic shifts. Drastic change."

As a black woman, she said, she was constantly asked: "Is your appeal broad enough? Are you playing identify politics? Can you really inspire millennials and the faith-based community? Can a congresswoman wear her hair in braids, rock a black leather jacket and bold red lips?"

She vowed to work to protect trans rights, to help college students facing "crippling student debt," to keep immigrant families "safe and together" and to deal with the epidemic of gun violence and trauma.

She said her election and others are "a mandate for hope."

And she cautioned fellow Democrats she will not moderate her beliefs. "We are the party of workers, the party of immigrant rights and women's rights, and people of color. And we are the party of survivor's rights. ... We don't have to wait our turn we don't have to wait for change. I still believe in the power of us. And change is on the way."

In another unsurprising result, Charlie Baker was re-elected govenor. Elizabeth Warren is also cruising to a second term, as Senator, over two right wingers.

In her speech, Warren said that, at least for the next two years, the House of Representatives, the people's house, is going to do a lot more work for the people."

But she also warned Republicans to watch out - that the millions of women who were disgusted by Trump's election would continue to persist.

"This resistance began with women and it is being led by women tonight," she said. After Trump's election, women didn't whimper, they didn't whine, they fought back. ...They refused to let anyone shut them up or stand in their way. And that is how real change begins."

And she vowed to fight for the "millions of Americans getting ripped off by a rigged economy and by a corrupt government in Washington." Specifically, she vowed to continue fighting "Donald Trump and his corrupt friends" and Mitch McConnell to keep them from raiding the treasury for rich people and to steal health care for millions of Americans.

"Yeah, it will be hard," she said. "Neverthless, we will persist."