BLACK WOMAN SHINES

BLACK WOMAN ousts established Democrat in primary contest.

AN AFRICAN WOMAN on Tuesday pulled off an upset victory in a Democratic primary contest    against a 10-term entrenched male incumbent in Boston, the latest sign that insurgent US candidates from the left are gaining ground.

Ayanna Presley, 44, won the Democratic nomination for the US House of Representatives in Massachusetts's seventh district, one of the most left-leaning in America and which includes Harvard University.

''It seems like change is on the way,'' she told her cheering supporters. ''Ours was truly a  ''people-power, grass-roots campaign.'' Pressley has long been identified as a rising star in the  Democratic Party.

In 2009 she was the first woman of colour ever elected to the Boston City Council. She also worked for former senator John Kerry.

Michael Capuano, who has represented the district  for 20 years, conceded defeat in a primary that few predicted he would lose, armed with an impressive party machinery and top-flight support. 

''This is life and this is OK. America is going to be OK.

Ayanna Pressley is going to be a good Congresswoman, and I, will tell you that  Massachusetts will be served,'' the 66 year old said.

Winning Tuesday's primary in the safe Democratic seat puts Pressley on course to become the  first  African American in Massachusetts to be elected to the US House of  representatives.

Teeming opposition on the left to US president Donald Trump has fuelled primary wins for insurgent, women and minority candidates in Democratic parties ahead of  November's crucial mid-term elections.

Some similarities have been drawn between Pressley and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortex, the political novice who defeated Democratic Party grandee Joe Crowley in New York Primary in June.

Bit as Capuano and Pressley are both progressives, she campaigned for change and argued that her life experience - she is a survivor of sexual assault - would make her the better representative. [AFP]