Jack, New York’s 15th Congressional District, located in the South Bronx, has the distinction of being the bluest House seat in the entire country. Yet despite that fact, there’s a very real chance that it could soon be represented by one of the most disgusting, unhinged homophobes in politics today—and the worst part is, he’s a Democrat. This is New York City Councilman Ruben Diaz Sr.

Fortunately there’s a far better option, which is why Daily Kos is endorsing City Councilman Ritchie Torres in the June 23 Democratic primary. Torres is a fierce progressive who, at the age of just 25, was the very first gay person to win elected office in the Bronx and would be the first gay Latino member of Congress. And with his record of fighting for the disadvantaged, we can count on him to uphold our values.

Please rush $3 to Ritchie Torres right now to stop bigot Ruben Diaz from joining Congress!

But while Torres and Diaz both serve on the City Council, the two could not be more different. In fact, it’s hard to say that Diaz actually “serves” anyone right now: Last year, much like soon-to-be-former Rep. Steve King, he was stripped of his committee assignments after he said that City Hall was “controlled by the homosexual community.” But that was only the most recent in Diaz’s long string of grotesque words and deeds attacking LGBTQ people:

He has "equated being gay to 'having sex with animals' and attacked the 1994 Gay Games in New York because he said the participants were 'likely infected with AIDS.'"
He sued to block the expansion of a public school serving at-risk gay teens.
When he served in the state Senate, he was the only Democrat to vote against legalizing same-sex marriage—and he even led a rally to unsuccessfully try to derail the bill.

And, like all bigots, his hatred doesn’t stop with gay people. He’s called abortion “the American Holocaust” and said abortion clinics “are doing more extreme things” than Josef Mengele. He also proudly campaigned with Ted Cruz when Cruz was running for president, and when asked who he planned to vote for in 2016 said, “I do like Donald Trump,” adding: “He’s like me, making enemies everywhere he goes.”

Count us among Diaz’s enemies, too—gladly.

Leading the charge against Diaz is Torres, the son of an African American mother and Puerto Rican father, who grew up in public housing and was repeatedly hospitalized as a child due to asthma attacks brought on by uncontrolled mold growing in his home. He was unable to tell anyone outside of his immediate family about his sexuality until he was in his 20s, fearful of a homophobic backlash—the kind fueled by the likes of Diaz—ultimately sinking into depression and dropping out of college.

But Torres stormed back, entered the world of politics, and became the youngest member of the City Council when he was elected in 2013. There he has championed the needs of those in public housing, leading the effort to obtain a $3 billion grant from FEMA—one of the largest in the agency’s history—to help give people the safe homes he never had. He’s also spearheaded an investigation into Jared Kushner’s real estate conglomerate for (surprise!) falsifying paperwork and harassing rent-stabilized tenants out of their apartments with “weaponized construction.”

Torres is, in other words, exactly the sort of representative the 15th District deserves. The problem is that a dozen Democrats have filed to run for this seat, which is open because Rep. Jose Serrano is retiring. That means Diaz can secure the Democratic nomination (which is tantamount to winning the general election) with just a small plurality of the vote—perhaps as little as 25%—because there are no runoffs.

That’s why we have to rally around Torres, who not only embodies progressive beliefs but is best positioned to stop Diaz. In fact, public polling shows him only two points behind, 22-20, with the rest of the field trailing distantly. Diaz, however, has held office in the Bronx for 20 years, and he has a core constituency that’s deeply loyal to him despite his bigotry. He’s a well known name and he’ll be difficult to beat.

We can’t risk electing our own version of Steve King. We need to dig deep and help Torres now.

Please send $3 to help Ritchie Torres stop one of the worst Democrats in the country from winning a seat in the House!

Thank you,
David Nir, Political Director
Daily Kos

Daily Kos, PO Box 70036, Oakland, CA, 94612.