Recent wins galvanizing Dem base

Party seeing change

WASHINGTON — Ayanna Pressley’s upset ouster of 10-term incumbent U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano has already thrust her onto the national stage, with Democrats hailing her as a star whose rays cast far beyond the Bay State’s 7th Congressional District.

“She will be a young leader who will rise very quickly nationally,” said Adrienne Elrod, a Democratic strategist and former Hillary Clinton campaign official.

Pressley brings instant change to Massachusetts’ U.S. House delegation, which has always been allwhite and mostly, if not entirely, male. Only two of the current nine members of Congress from the Bay State are women.

But some in her party see more in her victory. She’s one of a number of women whose candidacies have served to galvanize the Democratic base with challenges to incumbents that demonstrate a hunger for change, including New York U.S. House candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and New York Democratic gubernatorial hopeful Cynthia Nixon.

In the process, they are also seeking to broaden the party’s tent. Despite innumerable comparisons drawn between Pressley and Ocasio-Cortez, who defeated incumbent Democratic Rep. Joe Crowley, the races were different: Pressley wasn’t a newcomer, she wasn’t running to Capuano’s left, and while Ocasio-Cortez is closely aligned with Bernie Sanders, Pressley was a vocal Clinton supporter.

“The electorate is looking to elect women who represent range of view and values,” Elrod said.

And elevating female candidates of color like Pressley, Ocasio-Cortez and Georgia gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams is essential to the party’s future, they said. This is true even in deep-blue Massachusetts.

“Senator Kennedy would be delighted to see more diversity in the delegation,” said Democratic strategist Jim Manley of his former boss, the late U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy. “This is yet another wake-up call to the party that we simply need to do a better job of recruiting really good, more diverse candidates.”

Of course, potential pitfalls await Pressley. Her outspokenness about President Trump will likely draw his ire. Conservatives may likewise pounce on her popularity, as they did with Ocasio-Cortez, who they labeled as a dangerous lightweight.

For Pressley, avoiding that means doing the hard work of legislating and remembering the voters who sent her to Washington.

“Who knows what the future holds,” said Manley. “I hope she goes to Washington and does everything that she can to help her constituents.”