By MARC SANTORA
JUNE 24, 2014
As voters went to polling stations on Tuesday to cast their ballots, that message resonated for some.
Beryl Anto, 87, said she believed Mr. Rangel had done a good job, but that “it is time to go.”
“I am old and I know what it is like to be old,” Ms. Anto, a retired teacher, said. She was voting for Mr. Espaillat.
Lila Krater, 85, also thought it was time for a change.
“I think some of the politicians stay in office much too long and they get much too cozy,” she said.
Mr. Rangel, 84, stumped vigorously across his district, offering flashes of the often flamboyant and sometimes controversial politician whom voters have decided to trust time and again.
“I don’t know how old fire horses feel, but as soon as I heard that gong, I’ve been going ever since,” Mr. Rangel said. “I can’t stop, and I don’t want to.”
Mr. Rangel survived a House censure in 2010 for financial improprieties and was previously challenged by Mr. Espaillat, 59, in 2012.
He squeaked out a victory, winning by fewer than 1,100 votes.
This year, Mr. Rangel appears once again to be vulnerable. Not only did he have to fend off attacks from Mr. Espaillat and other opponents, but he has also had to confront the shifting demographics of the district itself.
When Mr. Rangel came into office in 1971, the 13th District was a bastion of black political power that helped shape local and national politics. One of the first things Mr. Rangel did upon entering office was to help found the Congressional Black Caucus, in order to give voice to minorities across the country.
After the 2010 census, the district was redrawn to pair Harlem and other neighborhoods of Upper Manhattan with a swath of the Bronx. Now, the population has a Hispanic majority, and Mr. Espaillat is seeking to become the first Dominican-American elected to Congress.
But in recent weeks, Mr. Espaillat’s campaign seems to have flagged: A recent Siena College poll showed him trailing by 13 points. Most troubling, perhaps, was that Mr. Espaillat remained unknown to about a third of voters and, of those who did know about him, 25 percent had a negative opinion, a marked increase from previous surveys.
Mr. Espaillat has dismissed the poll, saying it underestimated Spanish-speaking voters.
Mr. Espaillat and Mr. Rangel waged a contentious campaign against each other for months, and the lingering bitterness between the camps was still on display on Tuesday.
Outside a polling station at 190th Street and Audubon Avenue in Washington Heights, supporters from the campaigns got into a shouting match over how close they could be to the station.
There were also charges from each campaign that partisans were intimidating voters at polling stations, but there did not initially appear to be any widespread problems.
A volunteer brought over a case of seltzer and handed Mr. Espaillat a bottle, which sprayed all over his fresh navy-blue suit.
Mr. Rangel’s campaign was bolstered by support from former President Bill Clinton and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, who in a statement on Sunday said that the congressman was needed as “a critical voice in standing up to the Tea Party extremism that is threatening to take over Washington.”
The race is seen to be down to Mr. Rangel and Mr. Espaillat, though the Rev. Michael A. Walrond Jr., 43, a Harlem pastor, and Yolanda Garcia, 64, a Bronx community activist, are also running. Mr. Rangel said on Tuesday that the challenge was healthy.
“I hope that people look at all of the candidates running,” he said. “I’m satisfied that a good look at the candidates they will come up with someone that has the experience and knows what has to be done down there.”
Martha Agosto, 39, took a photo with Mr. Rangel as he greeted commuters heading to work and said that she was going to vote for him later in the day.
“I grew up with him,” Ms. Agosto said. “My father, who was a super, always believed in the fight, and I’ve always known about him. I think he still has it in him; I think he still speaks for our community.”
George Miller, 63, said he felt a similar affection for his longtime representative.
“When I was a kid I used to pass out pamphlets for this guy,” Mr. Miller said. “I like him, I think he’s doing a pretty good job. I don’t know about this other guy and I’m from here. I don’t know what the other guy is worth; I know what Rangel is worth.”
A previous version of this article misspelled the name of a street where the campaign team of State Senator Adriano D. Espaillat worked on Tuesday. It is Nagle Avenue, not Nagel.
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