Rep. Charles Rangel’s heavy-hitting donors — including Miami Heat owner Micky Arison, Las Vegas casino mogul Steve Wynn and real-estate tycoon William Rudin — are shelling out big bucks to help the embattled congressman hang on to his seat.
Rangel raked in $332,772, significantly more than the $185,100 raised by his chief rival, state Sen. Adriano Espaillat, according to the latest federal campaign filings covering April 1 through June 4.
A third candidate, the Rev. Michael Walrond, took in $33,575.
Rangel spent $370,189 and Espaillat $245,854.
Rangel is fighting for his political life in a June 24 Democratic primary that has turned nasty at times, with a defensive Rangel mocking Espaillat’s experience and even his ethnicity.
Espaillat, who was born in the Dominican Republic and narrowly lost to Rangel in the 2012 primary, is seeking to represent Harlem’s 13th District, which has become largely Hispanic.
Rangel’s supporters include prominent African-Americans such as former Mayor David Dinkins, former state Comptroller Carl McCall, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-Brooklyn) and NAACP honcho Hazel Dukes.
Arison, who is also chairman of the board of Carnival Cruises, gave Rangel $1,500 and his wife, Madeleine, donated $2,500. Another Carnival exec donated $1,000.
Rangel, a longtime supporter of the gaming industry, hit the jackpot with Vegas hotshots, grabbing a $5,200 donation from Wynn, and $250 each from an executive at MGM Resorts and Caesars Entertainment. Rudin gave Rangel $2,600 on June 10, among $12,100 the congressman received after the June 4 filing deadline.
Philanthropist Agnes Gund, former board president of the Museum of Modern Art, gave $500 to Rangel.
While Rangel once had a villa in the same Dominican Republic resort community as Oscar de la Renta, the fashion designer has thrown his support behind Espaillat. De la Renta and his philanthropist wife, Annette, kicked in $5,200 to the state senator’s campaign.
Espaillat also got cash from former Gov. Eliot Spitzer, who gave $5,000, and Spitzer’s father, Bernard, who donated $5,200. Eliot Spitzer’s gal pal, Lis Smith, is working on the Espaillat campaign.
Lin-Manuel Miranda, who wrote the Tony Award-winning Broadway musical “In the Heights,” gave $1,500 to Espaillat. Miranda’s father, Luis Miranda, heads a political consulting firm working for Espaillat.
The senator took in $26,700 after the June 4 reporting deadline.