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Veteran Democratic congressman Michael Capuano beaten by Ayanna Pressley in historic Boston upset
A 10-term Democratic congressman has conceded defeat to a Boston city councillor who is now poised to become Massachusetts' first black congresswoman in a race with parallels to a New York upset that rattled the party in June.
The Democratic nominating contest fight between US Representative Michael Capuano, 66, and Boston City Councilor Ayanna Pressley, 44, was his first since 1998.
"Clearly the district wanted a lot of change," Mr Capuano told supporters on Tuesday as he conceded. "I'm sorry that this didn't work out."
With no Republicans on the ticket in Tuesday's nominating primary, Ms Pressley is all but certain to succeed Mr Capuano in Washington in November's congressional elections.
Ms Pressley argued she would bring new energy and awareness of the needs in the state's only congressional district where a majority of residents are not white.
The race echoed the June primary in a safely Democratic New York City congressional district where first-time candidate Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez beat a 10-term incumbent, sparking fresh enthusiasm for progressive candidates across the United States.
Ms Ocasio-Cortez, 28, congratulated Ms Pressley on Twitter.
Both candidates had collected high-profile endorsements, with the Boston Globe newspaper backing Ms Pressley and the Congressional Black Caucus supporting Mr Capuano, who is white.
Polls and political observers predict the state's nine House seats will remain in Democratic hands, along with the seat held by US Senator Elizabeth Warren, a leading progressive voice often cited as a possible 2020 White House contender. Governor Charlie Baker, a Republican who regularly shows up in polls as one of the United States' most popular governors, is also expected to be re-elected.
Democrats need to pick up 23 seats in the House of Representatives and two in the Senate nationwide in the November 6 general election to gain a majority that could allow them to counter Republican President Donald Trump's agenda.