Ritchie Torres

Ritchie John Torres (born March 12, 1988) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for New York's 15th congressional district since 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served on the New York City Council from 2014 to 2020. Torres served as the New York City Council member for the 15th district from 2014 to 2020. Torres chaired the Committee on Public Housing and was a deputy majority leader. As chair of the Oversight and Investigations Committee, he focused on predatory lending associated with taxi medallion procurement and the city's Third Party Transfer Program. In July 2019, Torres announced his bid for New York's 15th congressional district to succeed Representative José E. Serrano. The district is one of the most Democratic-leaning congressional districts in the country. Torres won the November 2020 general election and assumed office on January 3, 2021. This made Mondaire Jones and him the first openly gay Black men elected to Congress. It also made Torres the first openly gay Afro-Latino elected to Congress. Torres served as one of nine co-chairs of the Congressional Equality Caucus (previously known as Congressional LGBTQ+ Caucus) and as one of the co-chairs of the Congressional Albanian Issues Caucus in the 117th United States Congress. Torres is known for his pro-Israel advocacy and has faced criticism from progressives opposed to Israel's conduct in the Gaza war.