Charles Rangel, longtime ethically challenged Congressional rep from NY-15, first appeared to have won his primary last week over challenger Adriano Espaillat.
But developments continue to develop.
From New York Magazine:
It's now emerged that, in the initial count, the New York City Board of Elections recorded zeros in 79 of the thirteenth district’s 506 precincts. Many of those districts are in Dominican neighborhoods that leaned heavily toward Espaillat. The candidate said many of his family members found their names weren't in the election books on Tuesday, and the advocacy group LatinoJustice PRLDEF said an unusually high number of bilingual poll workers were transferred to other precincts that day for no apparent reason.
More over the orange earthworm orgy:
This from the New York Times:
Mr. Rangel is now ahead of Mr. Espaillat by only 802 votes, or about 2 percentage points, and more than 2,000 absentee and affidavit ballots remain to be counted.
A State Supreme Court judge, Donna M. Mills, held a brief hearing on the vote count on Monday afternoon. Mr. Espaillat had filed a petition on Friday asking the court to supervise the canvassing process in the race, but on Monday, his new lawyer withdrew the petition and said he would refile a broader legal claim shortly.
I was disappointed Pelosi did not lead a move to have Rangel booted from the House before the 2010 elections. Democrats' toleration of his corruption just feeds the "all politicians are alike, they're all no good" mentality; which feeds the Enthusiasm Gap; and it was the Enthusiasm Gap that killed us in November 2010--poll after poll showed a majority of
Americans agreed with Dems on the issues, but obviously a majority of
Americans who voted agreed with the GOP.
If Romney beats Obama four months from now, the Enthusiasm Gap will again be the reason. And the GOP is almost certain to take the Senate and keep the House, so if we lose the White House, bye-bye healthcare reform.
Being the Lesser Evil is not a compelling electoral sales pitch. Dems need to show we're worth caring about. Getting rid of Rangel would be a good start.