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In Boston, Pressley will press Israel on Palestinians

Ayanna Pressley (Twitter)

Ayanna Pressley (Twitter)

BOSTON — Boston City Councilor Ayanna Pressley scored a major upset on Sept. 4 over 10-term incumbent congressman Michael Capuano in the Democratic primary. Pressley is set to become the first black woman from  Massachusetts in Congress, as there will be no Republican candidate in November in the Boston-area district — one of the most left-leaning in the country, according to The New York Times — once represented by John F. Kennedy.

Pressley told the group Massachusetts Peace Action in a pre-primary questionnaire that she supports a House bill that would require the US government to ensure that none of its military aid to Israel would be used for reported “detention and mistreatment of Palestinian children,” Boston.com reported.

She also said that if elected, she would push for policy that “recognizes the basic human rights of both Israelis and Palestinians and promotes greater engagement between the two sides.”

Her victory mirrors those of several progressive Democratic newcomers, notably Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who soundly defeated a longtime House incumbent, Joseph Crowley, in New York.

Josh Zakim, son of the late Jewish civil rights leader Leonard Zakim, fell short in his upstart bid to unseat longtime Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin.

Galvin won 67% of the vote in the Democratic Party primary to 32.7% for Zakim. Still, it was the toughest primary challenge Galvin has faced.

In June, Zakim surprisingly garnered the state party’s nomination with 55% of the vote in what was seen as a popular shift toward younger non-establishment Democrats.

Zakim, serving his third two-year term on the City Council, had the backing of Mayor Marty Walsh and former state treasurer Steve Grossman, a veteran of Democratic politics at the state level and one-time chair of the Democratic National Committee, as well as a former chairman of AIPAC.

In the November general election, Galvin will face Republican challenger Anthony Amore, a first-time office seeker who heads security for the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, where he oversees the investigation in the heist of 13 masterpieces.



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