Congresswoman-elect Ayanna Pressley attends last meeting as city councilor

Ayanna Pressley will soon become the first black woman from Massachusetts to serve in Congress, and the outgoing Boston city councilor attended her last official meeting in her current position Wednesday.

As she prepares for her historic spot in Congress, many are praising the legacy she's leaving behind from her soon-to-be former position.

"This woman is in it for the right reasons, and no truer words were ever spoken," Matt O'Malley of the Boston City Council said.

>>MORE: Pressley elected as Massachusetts' 1st black congresswoman

In 2009, Pressley was elected as the first black woman to the Boston City Council. Now, the council has six women of color.

"It's not lost to be that paved the way for each and every one of us to be here," Boston City Council President Andrea Campbell said. "Made a lot of sacrifices that most folks don't even know about."

Pressley introduced policies to help teen mothers graduate high school, and adopt city supports for domestic violence victims.

"I wanted to fight for girls," Pressley tearfully said. "Not be their voice, but to lift up their voices."

Now, Pressley is credited with comprehensive liquor license reform in the city.

"You have passed the baton," Edwards said. "Girl, we got this."

With fellow members of the Democratic freshmen class of Congresspeople, including Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib in the audience, Pressley thanked many, along with her husband Conan and step-daughter Cora.

"It was my hope that I would rise to the occasion and that I would need it," Pressley said. "And that my heart is simultaneously and also breaking at the same time, it's a bittersweet moment."

There is a city rule that would make the fifth-place winner in the last at-large election the next in line to fill Pressley's seat, which would be longtime politician Althea Garrison.

Over the past 22 years, Garrison has campaigned as a Democrat, Republican and as an independent.

At different points, she has opposed women's reproductive rights and marriage equality, and has said she voted for President Donald Trump.

"It's not my seat, it's just the seat that I served in," Pressley said. "This is an incredible council. The city is in very good hands. So, I don't have any concerns about that."

Garrison was the first transgender person elected to a state legislature in the United States in 1992. She was unable to be reached for comment.

Cox Media Group