Rangel Is Expected to Seek 23rd Term in Congress

[LiberalElite]

Source: NY Times

WASHINGTON — Charles B. Rangel, the venerable but embattled congressman from Harlem, will announce on Thursday that he is running for a 23rd term, according to a colleague in the New York House delegation.

Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/19/nyregion/rangel-is-expected-to-seek-23rd-term-in-congress.html?_r=0

[earthside]

1. Ridiculous.

Sorry to say that the once great Charlie Rangel is mostly an embarrassment to himself when he appears occasionally on MSNBC.

There is a time to take a bow and let others on stage.

[grantcart]

2. agreed, and he probably won't survive the primary.

He just barely won last time and the same guy is expected to challenge him again:

In early 2012, Rangel was beset by a back injury and a serious viral infection, and was away from Congress for three months.[167] Moreover, he had been redistricted into New York's 13th congressional district following the 2010 census; it included new geographic areas and its makeup was now 55 percent Hispanic compared to 27 percent African American.[168] As a result, Rangel faced a serious primary challenge from State Senator Adriano Espaillat.[167] Rangel struggled with fundraising, and he began receiving contributions from fellow members of Congress whom he had helped over the years.[169] In the June 26 primary, Rangel defeated Espaillat by less than a thousand votes, in a result that took two weeks to be fully resolved.[170] He won the subsequent November general election easily.[171]

From Espaillat's wiki page:

In 2012, Espaillat ran in the Democratic primary for New York’s 13th Congressional District, in a crowded field that included 42-year incumbent Charles Rangel.

Rangel narrowly beat Espaillat 44% - 42%, with a margin of victory of less than 1,000 votes. Espaillat placed first in the Bronx section of the district and parts of Upper Manhattan.[14]

The election was marked by reports that Spanish-speaking voters were either turned away at the polls or forced to use affidavit ballots.[15] The New York City Board of Elections was also sharply criticized for its poor handling of the election and subsequent legal proceedings.[16]

[KamaAina]

4. Why didn't Espaillat run on the Liberal or Working Families line in the general?

NY State has more robust minor parties than most, because they're allowed to cross-endorse Dems (or in other cases, like Conservative and Right To Life, repukes) when they don't field candidates of their own. I'm surprised that neither of the two smaller left-leaning parties backed Espaillat.

edit: no way in Hell that district is electing a repuke. Not even if Rangel roasted and ate a baby on live television.

[alp227]

3. John Dingell (D-Ann Arbor, MI) is now in his 30th term.

Longest ever. He first was elected during the Eisenhower years! Seems he will also run in 2014. http://www.mlive.com/news/detroit/index.ssf/2013/02/86-year-old_congressman_john_d.html

Does not sound like the governor of Michigan can appoint interim members of Congress for vacant seats. After Thad McCotter resigned from Congress the district just had a special election not an interim appointee.

There ought to be younger primary challengers for both old -gel congressmen.