Credit: Reuters/Mike Segar
By Edith Honan
U.S. Representative Charles Rangel (D-NY), who is running for a 23rd term in Congress, reacts after casting his vote in the Harlem section of New York City in the Democratic Primary election in New York June 24, 2014.
Congressman Charles Rangel of New York declared victory in his Democratic primary election on Tuesday, after facing one of the most serious challenges of a four-decade career as he tried to win a 23rd term in Congress in November.
Rangel’s Democratic challenger, state Senator Adriano Espaillat, has not conceded defeat, and the New York Times and other news outlets said the race was too close to call.
With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Rangel was leading 47 percent to 44 percent, according to NY1, a local television station, which called Rangel the winner.
Rangel, 84, is among the longest-serving and best-known black lawmakers. Espaillat hopes to become the first Dominican-American elected to Congress.
In this liberal bastion of New York City, where blacks and Latinos form the majority, the winner of the Democratic primary is all but guaranteed to win the mid-term general election in November.
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