Incoming Dem challenges party to make ‘lasting, transformative change’

Rep.-elect Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) on Tuesday said Democrats’ midterm victories in House races “altered the course of history,” but she also challenged Democrats not to simply be content with those victories.

According to audio obtained by BuzzFeed News, Pressley told a group of Democratic donors at a Democratic National Committee fundraising meeting that Democrats need to consider whether “we are simply content with making history, or if want to commit ourselves to working together to make a lasting, transformative change.”

{mosads}Pressley was elected to the House this fall after she defeated incumbent Rep. Mike Capuano (D-Mass.) in a primary in September. No Republican challenged Pressley in the November general election.

Pressley on Tuesday pointed to victories by women and women of color — such as herself, Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Rep.-elect Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) — as something that has “restored hope for many,” according to BuzzFeed.

But she also said Democrats must “ask the tough questions” about whether the party has provided women “with the institutional support so we can break through more glass and concrete ceilings as rapidly as possible.”

“Do black lives only matter in election years when our votes are at stake?” she also asked the donors.

Pressley also reportedly told members of the audience that she didn’t mind if she made anyone uncomfortable, as long as it was “in the name and in pursuit of progress.”

“Those young people are demanding and expecting more from me. And I owe it to them,” she added. “I ran to fight for the ignored, the left out and the left behind. And that is not only true for the electorate. Together we’ll do that work beginning with our own party.”