Powerful Incumbent Loses Mass. Democratic Primary

Boston City Councilor Ayanna Pressley scored an upset win in a Massachusetts primary Tuesday night and is set to become the state's first black congresswoman—especially since no Republican is running against her in the 7th Congressional District. Pressley defeated 10-term Rep. Michael Capuano, who had been endorsed by almost every major figure in the state's political establishment, including Boston Mayor Martin J. Walsh, the New York Times reports. Capuano, 66, is the second House Democrat to lose a primary to a progressive challenger this year, New York reports. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who defeated Rep. Joe Crowley in New York in June, appeared at a fundraiser with Pressley.

Pressley—who campaigned on the slogan "Change Can't Wait" and refused corporate donations—spoke out against the Democratic status quo as well as President Trump in her victory speech, the Boston Herald reports. "Though our president is a racist, misogynistic, truly empathy-bankrupt man, the conditions which have made the 7th CD one of the most unequal in America was cemented through policy long before he ever descended the escalator at Trump Tower," Pressley said. "In fact, some of those policies were put in place with Democrats in the White House." In his concession speech, Capuano observed that "the district wanted a lot of change" and said Pressley "will make a great congresswoman." (More Ayanna Pressley stories.)