Rangel Victory in Doubt

Congressman Rangel's apparent re-election last week is now in doubt.

Missing Votes

Rangel, who has been an impressive and productive member of the United States House of Representatives for 40 years, was declared the winner of the Democratic Primary last week by many news organizations, and he has a lead in the unofficial vote count. But, Rangel, who is also the Dean of the New York State Congressional delegation, has a very small lead.

As of Friday, six percent of the vote, represented by 32 precincts, had yet to be counted. Another 2,447 affidavit ballots and 667 absentee votes had also not yet been counted. Rangel's lead was  1,032 votes, according to the Board of Elections.

On Saturday night, the Board of Elections announced updated unofficial results that include all of the precincts but none of the absentee ballots or affidavit ballots. The updated Rangel lead was just 802 votes with 3,000 potential votes uncounted.

What Went Wrong?

According to Politico, the reason that six percent of votes have not yet been tabulated is that the police officers tasked with providing an unofficial record of the data from those precincts after securing voting boxes on election night had not done so. On Friday of last week, elections officials said a final tally would arrive by 2 p.m. that day. The final tally was not communicated until Saturday.

What Next?

The person whom Charlie Rangel apparently defeated last week, State Senator Adriano Espaillat, has filed suit in an effort to get access to the vote counting process.

State Senator Espaillat issued a statement:
“Our campaign has not been allowed to adequately monitor the Board of Elections’ proceedings, as required by law. The BOE continues to stonewall not only our campaign but also the news media, which is particularly disturbing given that it blocks the free flow of information and transparency — the bedrock of our democratic system.”

Now, the courts will decide how much access the campaigns are given. The Board of Elections will, hopefully, count all of the legitimate votes and announce an official winner this week.

Upper Manhattan Chooses Rangel (again)

The new Congressional District #13 in New York State includes all of Upper Manhattan as well as parts of the Bronx. Charlie Rangel won the Democratic nomination and is poised to continue his his service in Congress after 40 years as a member of that institution.

Rangel Wins

Charlie Rangel faced opposition from State Senator Adriano Espaillat and other candidates. Espaillat received a healthy 39% of the vote but was defeated by Rangel.

Rangel did not receive the endorsements of the major newspapers in our city, but he won the support of the people who matter most, the voters.

Rangel's victory is made even more special because it is the first time that his district includes parts of the Bronx. After decades of bringing people together, Charlie Rangel is now the political bridge that unites the Bronx and Upper Manhattan, communities dominated by people of color who live in residential neighborhoods that they love.

Espaillat's Future

Espaillat's state senate seat is likely now jeopardized. His candidacy seemed to be born as a result of a change in the calendar and a sense that he could run and lose without consequences. He may have miscalculated.

Espaillat challenged Rangel because the federal government forced New York State to hold its federal primaries earlier as part of a demand to allow military families living outside of the US to have an opportunity to participate fully in the electoral process. Traditionally, primaries were held in the first half of September in New York State. This year, the New York State primaries for state and local offices will occur in September, but the federal primaries (U.S. Senate and U.S. House of Representatives) took place today.

While Espaillat was unsuccessfully challenging Rangel, Guillermo Linares, the first Dominican American elected to a major office in the United States (as well as former member of the New York City Council and a current member of the New York State Assembly), announced his desire to defeat Espaillat in the September primary for Espaillat's state senate seat. Linares endorsed Rangel and was seen at Rangel's victory party tonight. Linares is a heavyweight legislator with an impressive record. Linares has also earned the support of most of Rangel's key supporters.

In addition, Assemblyman Linares' daughter, a long-time star in the Democratic Party in Manhattan, has begun the process of working to replace her father in the New York State Assembly as he works to move to the New York State Senate. Mayra Linares was a district leader in Upper Manhattan for many years before joining the administration of Governor Cuomo, and she will start the race as a leading candidate with an impressive biography.

So, we will have at least two very exciting and important races in Upper Manhattan in September for positions in the State Legislature. We hope that the September primaries end with two victors named Linares just as tonight ended with a very satisfying and telling victory for Upper Manhattan's political leader, Charlie Rangel.