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BOSTON – In the morning after her upset political victory, Ayanna Pressley walked up to Dorchester a few blocks from the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library, greeting activists gathered to unify the party and see a pioneer – black, female, Bostonian – now ready to assume the former JFK congressional headquarters.
Outside, around the corner, was Joe Moakley Park, named after the Irish consummate democrat from South Boston who won 15 congressional terms. One kilometer away was Boston College High School, the proud Jesuit Catholic center with more than 150 years of history and, recently, the number of applications for boarding.
"It is a tribal and parochial place," said Pressley on Wednesday, surrounded by Boston's political leaders, both old and new, who braved the obstacles that others said would prevent it. to win. "It has not always been my home."
That's it now.
With his 17-point victory over ten-time Democrat incumbent Michael Capuano, a long-time Liberal, defeats his opponent's message of militant urgency and generational change anyway. here to stay, from Florida (Andrew Gillum) to New York (Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) in New England.
Here in Boston, the result of Tuesday has become something deeper, not only an earthquake disrupting the established political order, but a shock to the very identity of a historic American city, which is said with its own reputation for provincialism, especially in racing.
The inhabitants had long understood that the winds were blowing, that the city of "Honey Fitz", Tip O'Neill and the Bulger brothers had evolved into something new. Jobs in the technology and finance sector have flocked, prompting students in the region to stay after graduation. African-Americans and other racial minorities, galvanized by Pressley's message that "change can not wait," have made it clear that they intend to demand more than a left-wing electoral record at this time of insurgent fervor. .
"Living under Donald Trump is exhausting," said Horace Small, a long-time Boston activist, executive director of the Union of Minority Neighborhoods. "It's not black and brown people who are the only ones who are exhausted. So, there are a lot of whites.
Of course, the first step was to provide voters with a different choice.
Lawrence DiCara, former city council president and unofficial historian from Boston, recalled the 1960 election in which the Bostonians "could vote an all Irish ticket" with J.F.K. at the top and other Irish Catholic men among the candidates for all other offices.
"Look at all our mayors over the years," Small said. "Look at all the names."
Walsh. Menino. Flynn. And these are only the most recent ones.
"It's like the good old days," said Flynn. "The Irish have gained political power. And then the Italians. And then the Polish. And now that you see the immigrant population and minorities, they are starting to have real political strength in Boston. It's a good thing. It means that they really feel empowered. They feel like part of Boston. "
Focusing on the fallout on Wednesday, local Democrats hovered between shock and exuberance. (There was also a bit of legitimate fatigue.) After saying that she had spent a good part of the last few months drinking coffee and energy drinks, Ms. Pressley canceled an afternoon with her campaign citing "symptoms of dehydration and depression." "Exhaustion".)
The rally in Dorchester, held at Senator Elizabeth Warren's headquarters in Boston, was presented as a "unity event" with the participation of other Democrats who may or may not have supported Ms. Pressley. Mayor Martin J. Walsh, who had supported Capuano, said that Ms. Pressley's campaign had "inspired people to make history".
State Attorney General Maura Healey, who had worked for Pressley, said on Tuesday the number of candidates who ran for the first time. "And you know what?" She says. "A whole bunch of them have won. That's what democracy looks like.
In what was considered a victory for Ms. Pressley during the campaign, the two US senators from Massachusetts – Mrs. Warren and Ed Markey – remained neutral in the race.
In an interview on Wednesday, Mr. Markey seemed unwise to draw broader conclusions about state or national politics.
"It was built as a minority majority district and there were two very good candidates, and I finally think that the elections showed that these changes had taken place," he told Capitol Hill in Washington. reporting many other changes in races at the state level yesterday or in other congressional districts. I would be hard to predict what will happen in eight weeks, let alone two years from here. "
But at the very least, Ms. Pressley's anger has clearly shown that enthusiasm is important.
According to John Walsh, former president of the Democratic Party of the state, who supported Ms. Pressley, about 60,000 people could end up in a democratic primary in this district.
This time, 102,000 voters showed up. Ms. Pressley won nearly 60,000. "If it had been an ordinary primary," Mr. Walsh said in turn: "Michael had the votes to win".
The Pressley campaign attracted these extra votes through a combination of motion building, social media and old-fashioned methods such as sound trucks in neighborhoods on the first day.
The campaign had neither the money nor the propensity to broadcast traditional TV commercials, which would have failed to target people in the district. Instead, she aired a Spanish-language ad on Telemundo and used other local ethnic media to reach her audience.
"Our strategy was to broaden the electorate and ignite the grassroots," said Wilnelia Rivera, a political strategist who has long worked with Ms. Pressley. "We have trained new activists in a new form of political campaign and joined the group of people who do not vote normally."
Thomas Whalen, social scientist at Boston University, said Pressley's victory was a moment of apprehension for machine politicians like Walsh.
"It's a bad day for the gray heads of Massachusetts politics," he said. "Political representation is starting to catch up with the demographics of the region."
This was also evident in the Third Congressional District, north of Boston, where no less than ten Democrats competed for the open seat created by the retirement of Representative Niki Tsongas. The race was still too tight on Wednesday and a recount was under way, but it drew a multicultural fan base of candidates, including five women, a man of Korean and Lebanese descent, recent immigrants, a homosexual and a transgender woman.
"Pressley is leading the way for minority groups, who now realize that if they can do it, we can do it too," Whalen said. "This is one of J. F. K.'s political legacies. They said that a Catholic could never be elected president.
Katharine Q. Seelye reported from Boston and Matt Flegenheimer from Washington. Nicholas Fandos contributed to the Washington report.
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