Democratic Rep. Charles Rangel, the gravelly-voiced New York City congressman whose career has already lasted more than four decades despite the taint of an ethics scandal, overcame demographic changes in his district to win a chance at a 22nd term on Tuesday.
Rangel defeated Adriano Espaillat and three other contenders in New York’s congressional primary, his first election since the House of Representatives censured the 82-year-old Korean War veteran in an ethics controversy focused on taxes and financial disclosure statements.
With more than half the precincts reporting, Rangel held a comfortable double-digit lead.
In some other closely watched races Tuesday night, Republican former Erie County Executive Chris Collins defeated Iraq War veteran David Bellavia in the 27th district linking the outskirts of Buffalo and Rochester, while Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries knocked off City Councilmember Charles Barron in the 8th district in Brooklyn and Queens.
And in the newly drawn 6th District in Queens, Assemblywoman Grace Meng beat Assemblyman Rory Lancman and City Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley. Meng would be the first Asian-American member of Congress from New York if she wins in November. The area is currently represented by Rep. Gary Ackerman, who is retiring.
Rangel was censured in December 2010, shortly after he handily won re-election. He has been a longtime political leader in Harlem, but his influence in the House had waned by the time of his censure. He had stepped down as chairman of one of Congress’ most powerful committees earlier that year after he was criticized in a separate ethics investigation.
This year, new questions about Rangel’s vulnerability arose after the boundaries of the congressional district covering Harlem were redrawn as part of the once-a-decade redistricting process, with some of Manhattan being taken out of the district and parts of the Bronx added in. That changed its ethnic and racial composition: While the number of blacks stayed roughly the same, there are fewer whites and more Hispanics. Hispanics now make up more than half of the residents and almost half of the eligible voters.
Rangel, who is black, got the support of some Latino public officials and endorsements from politicians including Gov. Andrew Cuomo and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. Democrats vastly outnumber Republicans in the city, making Rangel the favorite to win the general election in November.
Espaillat had been bidding to be the first Dominican-American in Congress.
Rangel was convicted of 11 ethics violations, including failure to pay some taxes and using congressional resources to raise money for an academic center bearing his name. At a hearing in front of the ethics committee, Rangel apologized “for any embarrassment I’ve caused you individually and collectively as a member of the greatest institution in the world.”
After the censure came down, though, he called the vote politically motivated.
In other races:
— In the 1st district covering the eastern part of Long Island, Republican Randy Altschuler beat George Demos to take on incumbent Tim Bishop in the general election. Bishop narrowly beat Altschuler in 2010.
— In the 4th district on Long Island, Francis Becker beat Frank Scaturro in the Republican primary.
— In the 5th district that covers parts of Queens and Nassau County, incumbent Democrat Gregory Meeks defeated Michael Scala.
— In the 7th district that stretches over parts of Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens, incumbent Democrat Nydia Velazquez beat City Councilman Erik Dilan.
— In the 9th district in Brooklyn, incumbent Democrat Yvette Clarke defeated Sylvia Kinard.
— In the 16th district covering parts of the Bronx and the Hudson Valley, incumbent Democrat Eliot Engel cruised to victory over Aniello Grimaldi.
— In the 17th district of the lower Hudson Valley, Republican Joseph Carvin defeated Jim Russell.
— In northern New York, Matt Doheny defeated Kellie Greene to set up a rematch with incumbent Democrat Bill Owens in the 21st Congressional District. Doheny also has the Conservative line.
— In the Utica area, Richard Hanna held off Michael Kicinski in his bid for a second term representing the 22nd district.