Showing posts tagged charles rangel
Rangel, outside the Adam Clayton Powell Jr. statue, discussing the NY-13 race.

Rangel, outside the Adam Clayton Powell Jr. statue, discussing the NY-13 race.

‘surface issues’

Off Message?

This morning, Adriano Espaillat’s congressional campaign posted a videohighlighting their endorsement from Vincent Morgan, a former aide to Charlie Rangel, the incumbent they’re trying to oust. In the video, Morgan seems to make a slightly different pitch than the campaign generally has to this point, suggesting that voters are looking beyond “surface issues, like our race and socioeconomic standing.”

If there’s one major theme of Espaillat’s congressional campaign, it’s that his candidacy represents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to put a Dominican-American in Congress, an achievement that is overdue.

Also, try telling some other Espaillat supporters, like Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez (who is an outspoken ally of the Occupy Wall Street movement) that voters are looking past socioeconomic issues this year.

“Did they ever do anything without my help?” —Rep. Charles Rangel, about the people running against him.

“Did they ever do anything without my help?”

—Rep. Charles Rangel, about the people running against him.

Rangel will miss more votes as Congress convenes without him | Capital New York

Rangel’s spokeswoman, Hannah Kim:

“The Congressman will be hosting multiple events aimed at bringing Washington to the District, to provide opportunities for his constituents to meet representatives from the federal agencies. We’re holding another major career fair.”

“I understand how Washington D.C. works,” said NY-13 candidate Clyde Williams. “I know the people who can get things done. I know most of the people who work in the White House.”

via Facebook View high resolution

via Facebook

Manhattan Times looks at the possible race in upper Manhattan. I’ve been trickling out some details on the race here and here.

Manhattan Times looks at the possible race in upper Manhattan. I’ve been trickling out some details on the race here and here.

My take:

Rangel’s record will inevitably be a larger part of the dialogue once the campaign gets going in earnest, in light of his sanctioning before the 2010 election for violating House ethics rules. That’s despite the fact that Rangel managed to turn the negative attention into a rallying cry in the last election among his supporters, who felt he was unfairly abused by critics from outside the district who failed to appreciate his legislative contributions and constituent services. Rangel won easily.

But the video demonstrates what associates of WIlliams say are his key attributes, and perhaps illustrates the sort of campaign he would like to run, ideally, talking about solving problems and steering clear of anything that can be turned into a personality contest by the much-better-known and still well-liked Rangel.

NY-15 is getting interesting: Clyde Williams, the former political director for the Democratic National Committee who is considering a run against Rep. Charlie Rangel, has $125,000 on hand in his exploratory committee, according to a source. Rangel has more: $250,000 on hand in his campaign account, his spokesman told me yesterday. But Rangel only raised $60,000 in the last three months, compared to Williams, who raised $165,000 in 10 weeks, according to Politico. “Most of [Williams’] money was raised over the holidays,” wrote Trymaine Lee of Huffington Post, who called that “an impressive feat.” Williams’ donor list indicates support, in spots, from the upper echelons of Clinton and Obama worlds: His contributors include Pete Rouse, a senior adviser to Obama, and Maggie Williams, a longtime Clinton aide who helped run the 2008 presidential campaign after the initial leadership was ousted. There’s also a handful of former Rangel donors who donated to Williams. Williams told Politico “this was an important milestone for me.” The fund-raising is an important hurdle and Williams appears to have cleared it easily, arguably making him the most potent threat to Rangel this election cycle. But some other factors could diminish whatever financial momentum Williams has built up. The first is the accelerated election schedule, now that a federal judge moved up congressional primaries in New York to June 26. (One potential Senate candidate already used it as an excuse to bow out of a challenge to Kirsten Gillibrand.)  The other factor is that the shape of the district is going to drastically change in redistricting and,according to Assemblyman Herman Denny Farrell, it’s being done in order to protect Rangel.  View high resolution

NY-15 is getting interesting:

Clyde Williams, the former political director for the Democratic National Committee who is considering a run against Rep. Charlie Rangel, has $125,000 on hand in his exploratory committee, according to a source.

Rangel has more: $250,000 on hand in his campaign account, his spokesman told me yesterday. But Rangel only raised $60,000 in the last three months, compared to Williams, who raised $165,000 in 10 weeks, according to Politico.

“Most of [Williams’] money was raised over the holidays,” wrote Trymaine Lee of Huffington Post, who called that “an impressive feat.”

Williams’ donor list indicates support, in spots, from the upper echelons of Clinton and Obama worlds: His contributors include Pete Rouse, a senior adviser to Obama, and Maggie Williams, a longtime Clinton aide who helped run the 2008 presidential campaign after the initial leadership was ousted. There’s also a handful of former Rangel donors who donated to Williams.

Williams told Politico “this was an important milestone for me.”

The fund-raising is an important hurdle and Williams appears to have cleared it easily, arguably making him the most potent threat to Rangel this election cycle. But some other factors could diminish whatever financial momentum Williams has built up. The first is the accelerated election schedule, now that a federal judge moved up congressional primaries in New York to June 26. (One potential Senate candidate already used it as an excuse to bow out of a challenge to Kirsten Gillibrand.) 

The other factor is that the shape of the district is going to drastically change in redistricting and,according to Assemblyman Herman Denny Farrell, it’s being done in order to protect Rangel.