Gebruiker:Haaftjlv/AyannaPresley

Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts's 7th district Incumbent Assumed office January 3, 2019 Preceded by Mike Capuano Member of the Boston City Council for the at-large district In office January 4, 2010 – January 3, 2019 Preceded by Sam Yoon Succeeded by Althea Garrison Personal details Born Ayanna Soyini Pressley February 3, 1974 (age 45) Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. Political party Democratic Spouse(s) Conan Harris Children 1 Education Boston University Website House website

Ayanna Soyini Pressley, (geb. 3 februari 1974) is een Amerikaanse politica, die het zevende Congresdistrict van de staat Massachusetts sinds 2019 vertegenwoordigt in het Huis van Afgevaardigden.

Haar district, which was once represented by John F. Kennedy and Tip O'Neill, includes the norther in three-fourths of Boston, most of Cambridge, parts of Milton, as well as all of Chelsea, Everett, Randolph and Somerville.[1]

A member of the Democratic Party, Pressley defeated ten-term incumbent Mike Capuano in the primary election and ran unopposed in the general election. She was previously elected as an at-large member of the Boston City Council in 2010. Pressley was the first black woman elected to the Boston City Council.

She is the first black woman elected to Congress from Massachusetts.[2][3]

Contents 1 Early life and education 2 Earlier political career 3 Boston City Council 4 U.S. House of Representatives 4.1 Tenure

Early life and education

Pressley was born in Cincinnati, Ohio,[4] but raised in Chicago, Illinois, the only child of mother Sandra Pressley (née Echols),[5] who worked multiple jobs to support the family and also worked as a community organizer for the Chicago Urban League advocating for tenant's rights,[6] and father Martin Terrell, who struggled with addiction and was incarcerated throughout Pressley's childhood,[7] but eventually earned multiple degrees and taught at the college level.[8] The marriage ended in divorce.[5]

Pressley grew up on the north side of Chicago[8] and attended the Francis W. Parker School.[9] While at the prestigious private school, she was a cheerleader, did modeling and voice-over work, appeared in Planned Parenthood bus advertisements, and was a competitive debater. During her senior year of high school she was voted the "most likely to be mayor of Chicago" and was the commencement speaker for her class.[10]

Her mother later moved to Brooklyn, where she worked as an executive assistant, and later remarried.[5] When Pressley was elected to the Boston City Council, her mother would often attend the public meetings, wearing a hat that said "Mama Pressley."[5]

From 1992 to 1994, Pressley attended the College of General Studies at Boston University, but left school to take a full-time job at the Boston Marriott Copley Place to support her mother, who had lost her job. She took further courses at Boston University Metropolitan College, also known as MET.[6][10]

Earlier political career After leaving Boston University, Pressley worked as a district representative for United States Representative Joseph P. Kennedy II, for whom she had interned during college.[6] The work included assisting constituents with Social Security claims and working with senior citizens and veterans and people with disabilities. Pressley became Kennedy's scheduler, then worked as constituency director, before becoming the political director and senior aide for Senator Kerry.[8]

During 2009, Pressley served as United States Senator John Kerry's (D-Mass.) political director.

Boston City Council Pressley was first elected to the Boston City Council in November 2009. Upon being sworn in on January 4, 2010, she was the first woman of color to serve in the 100-year history of the Boston City Council.[2][11] The only woman in a field of 15 candidates, Pressley earned one of four at-large spots on the city's 13-member council with nearly 42,000 votes.[2]

In her first year as a City Councilor, Pressley formed the Committee on Healthy Women, Families, and Communities, which addresses issues such as domestic violence, child abuse, and human trafficking. She worked collaboratively with community members to develop a comprehensive sexual education and health curriculum and update the expectant and parenting student policy. Both were successfully implemented into Boston Public Schools.[12]

According to Erin O’Brien, a political science professor at University of Massachusetts Boston, during Pressley's time on the City Council, she did not have the reputation for being controversial or as an outsider because, as a woman of color, she did not want to lose her seat.[13]

In the council election of November 2011, Pressley faced a competitive re-election, and finished first among at-large candidates with 37,000 votes. She won 13 of the city's 22 wards and finished second in three others. Pressley won Boston's communities of color and many progressive neighborhoods. In all, Pressley placed first in more than half of Boston's 22 wards.[14] Pressley topped the ticket again in November 2013 and November 2015, and placed second in November 2017.[15][16][17]

U.S. House of Representatives Main article: United States House of Representatives elections in Massachusetts, 2018 § District_7 In January 2018, Pressley announced her challenge to incumbent United States Representative Michael Capuano in the 2018 Democratic primary nomination for the Massachusetts's 7th congressional district.[18] No Republican even filed, meaning that whoever won the primary would be all but assured of victory in November.

The 7th district is traditionally Democratic and is the state's only district where the majority of residents are not white. Capuano received endorsements from civil rights veteran and U.S. Representative John Lewis of Georgia as well as U.S. Representative Maxine Waters of California.[19]

Pressley was endorsed by The Boston Globe[20] and locals of the hotel workers and the electrical worker unions,[21] Grassroots movements including Democracy for America, Brand New Congress and the Justice Democrats supported Pressley.[22] She received the endorsements of former Massachusetts Democratic Party chair John E. Walsh,[23] Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey,[7] former Newton mayor Setti Warren[24] and Boston city councilor Michelle Wu.[25] The nomination win in New York's 14th congressional district of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez over long-time representative Joseph Crowley increased the visibility of Pressley's campaign.[26][27] While some political commentators distinguished Pressley's campaign from that of Ocasio-Cortez in that Capuano was understood to have one of the most progressive records in Congress, the incumbents both represented districts in which the majority of voters are not white.[28]

Like Capuano, Pressley campaigned as a staunch progressive; indeed, she admitted that her voting record would likely be almost identical to that of Capuano. However, Pressley contended that a reliably liberal voting record was not enough to meet the needs of a district whose demographics and character had changed over the years. She also claimed that the district needed to be represented by someone who would take a more aggressive role in opposing the presidency of Donald Trump. She campaigned with the slogan "change can't wait", and promised that she would bring "activist leadership."[29]

In the September 4, 2018, Democratic primary election, Pressley defeated Capuano by a margin of 59% to 41%.[30] The primary victory was a surprise,[31] as the last poll before the election showed Capuano with a significant lead, 48% to 35%.[32] Part of the reason the polls may have been inaccurate was a surge in the number of primary voters. According to Boston NPR station WBUR, 24 percent of primary voters in the 7th District primary had not voted in the five previous primaries. The percentage of new voters included a disproportionate number of Hispanic and Asian voters.[33] As mentioned above, no Republican even filed, effectively assuring Pressley of being the district's next congresswoman. She won the general election unopposed.[34] However, the 7th is so heavily Democratic that any Republican challenger would have faced nearly impossible odds in any event. With a Cook Partisan Voting Index of D+34, the 7th is by far the most Democratic district in New England. Indeed, the Republicans last put up a challenger in this district during Capuano's first run for it 1998, when it was numbered as the 8th District. The GOP has only nominated a candidate in this district five times since longtime Speaker Tip O'Neill retired in 1986.

Tenure Pressley is the first African American woman elected to represent Massachusetts in Congress.[35] With the November election victory of Jahana Hayes in Connecticut's 5th congressional district,[36] they are the first women of color to be elected to Congress from New England.[37][38]

Pressley is a member of the informal group known as "The Squad", whose members form a unified front to push for progressive changes such as the Green New Deal and Medicare-for-all. The other members of "The Squad" are Ilhan Omar (D-MN), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) [39].

In May 2019, Pressley gave the commencement address to the graduates of University of Massachusetts Boston, saying they are "President Trump’s worst nightmare." In her speech she said, "Represented here today are dreamers and doers, immigrants, people of every race identity, every gender identity and sexuality, sisters rocking Senegalese twists and hijabs."[40]

Committee assignments Committee on Financial Services Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Financial Institutions Subcommittee on Diversity and Inclusion Committee on Oversight and Reform Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties Caucus memberships Congressional Black Caucus[41] Congressional Caucus for Women's Issues Congressional Progressive Caucus[42]