U.S. Congressman Ritchie Torres represents New York’s 15th congressional district (the state’s poorest district), which covers most of the South Bronx.
Prior to becoming a representative in 2021, the 35-year-old Democrat served as the New York City Council member for the 15th district from 2013 to 2020. He was the first openly gay candidate to be elected to legislative office in the Bronx, and the council’s youngest member.
When fellow Congressman George Santos (R-NY), who represents New York’s third congressional district (the wealthiest), announced that he’s not running for re-election, Torres wrote on the social media platform X: “George Santos, who illegally spent campaign funds on porn sites and Botox, has announced he is no longer seeking re-election. I will be the sole surviving Jew-ish gay Latino Congressman from New York.“
George Santos, who illegally spent campaign funds on porn sites and Botox, has announced he is no longer seeking re-election.
— Ritchie Torres (@RitchieTorres) November 16, 2023
I will be the sole surviving Jew-ish gay Latino Congressman from New York.
Torres’s father is Puerto Rican, his mother is African-American. Santos, who was born to Brazilian parents, is openly gay, too.
Santos has claimed and denied claiming Jewish ancestry. During a radio interview on WABC, Santos said: “I never claimed to be Jewish. I am Catholic. Because I learned my maternal family had a Jewish background, I said I was ‘Jew-ish.'”
Note: Torres, who was raised Catholic, has said his first visit to Israel, led by the Jewish Community Relations Council in 2015, was a “life-changing experience.”
