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Despite a redrawn district and a viable opponent, the 82-year-old's political foes couldn't take him down.
It was a joyful evening this past June on the sidewalk in front of the famous Harlem restaurant Sylvia's. Congressman Charles B. Rangel, who has represented Upper Manhattan for over 40 years, was projected to win the Democratic primary for New York's new 13th Congressional District. Given the district's overwhelming Democratic majority, his election to a 22nd term was all but guaranteed.
"The firm of Heastie, Paterson & Wright have projected Charles Rangel the winner in the 13th Congressional District primary," declared former Governor David Paterson, facetiously referring to himself and two local assemblymen. Most of Upper Manhattan's political elite, intermixed with the campaign's younger foot soldiers, celebrated raucously.
Despite the fact that the congressman already had 21 consecutive nominations under his belt, this victory had greater implications: Rangel won what was generally considered his most competitive primary since he was first elected, and he defeated his most viable challenger at a moment when his political opponents claimed he was at his weakest.
The Challenge
The Congressman was up against a multi-front assault: rival political machines, a mainstream media hell-bent on taking him down, the legacy of supposed scandals and a House censure, multiple Super PACs, shifting demographics, and nagging injuries. Rangel also faced a challenge in the form of State Senator Adriano Espaillat.
Although Rangel's public image reached a nadir when he was censured in 2010, virtually the entire political establishment in New York continued to support him. At the time, a few elected officials mulled the idea of a primary challenge, but ultimately the only one to do so was Assemblyman Adam Clayton Powell IV. Powell's father was Rangel's predecessor in the House, but he simply didn't have a solid record to run on. Rangel won the primary and general election handily.
In 2012, the congressman had a far more viable primary opponent. Espaillat is handsome and charismatic. He's a longtime community activist and elected official with his own political machine. Born in the Dominican Republic, he sought to represent a district becoming increasingly Latino. And, at age 57, he was considered the "young" candidate.
Redistricting and demographic shifts looked to favor Espaillat. In the past...