Charlie Rangel (Photo: Getty)

Octogenarian Congressman Charlie Rangel staved off a vigorous primary challenge from State Sen. Adriano Espaillat last year, but he has yet to gear up his operations for what could be another tough re-election fight. According to his latest filings, Mr. Rangel spent more than he raised and has negative $4,800 cash on hand and $36,000 in debts and obligations.

Furthermore, Mr. Rangel only received a handful of individual contributions, oddly all from Puerto Rico-based donors, which, along with some political committee cash, amounted to just $34,000. Meanwhile, Mr. Rangel spent about $44,000, including $28,000, to his attorney Jay Goldberg.

Politicker reached out to Mr. Rangel's office to ask if this might be taken as a sign that Mr. Rangel is contemplating retirement. Hannah Kim, Mr. Rangel's spokeswoman, said Mr. Rangel was simply focused on his official duties.

"The Congressman has been just reelected and the 113th Congress started only four months ago. He has been extremely busy holding numerous events in the newly-drawn district," Ms. Kim said in a statement. "He is also focused on working to reform the tax code as well as helping to enact sensible legislation on immigration, guns and a balanced budget that will create jobs, strengthen the economy, and ensure that we keep moving our country in the right direction."

Mr. Espaillat, who has not signaled his own electoral intentions, raised only $2,000 during the same period. However, he reported having a little more than $67,000 cash on hand. Additionally, former Assemblyman Adam Clayton Powell IV, who has said he would run if Mr. Rangel doesn't seek re-election, raised about $45,000.

Charlie Rangel giving his passionate speech earlier today.

Last week, State Senator Adriano Espaillat's campaign circulated a tough mailer against his primary opponent, Assemblyman Guillermo Linares, in which they accused Mr. Linares of "betraying" the community by backing Rep. Charlie Rangel over Mr. Espaillat's bid to become the country's first Dominican-American congressman earlier this year and for taking campaign contributions from special interests.

Mr. Rangel, a backer of Mr. Linares' bid, is angry about the mailer. Really angry. So angry, he says, that he was motivated, in the spirit of the anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center, to condemn the controversial campaign literature in question. To that end, Mr. Rangel held a press conference where he gave a ten minute speech expressing his outrage.

Waving a copy of the mailer and standing before a crowd holding up flags from various countries, Mr. Rangel was uncharacteristically fiery but characteristically loquacious.

Mr. Rangel's remarks were clearly far too epic to edit. As such, we present a full transcript below.

"This is not a very good day for me. Most of you know the country is sharing the pain that we all felt on 9/11. I was so pleased to hear that Senator Espaillat has suspended his campaign today in memory of the lives that were lost and the attack that was made against our great city and against our great country and indeed the civilized world. And that's what makes this so-called 'press conference' so painful, because of what this country means to all of us. The liberty that we enjoyed, people all over the world can't even dream about the concept, and one of the things that makes us different from most people is that when the flag goes up, when we're talking about coming together with the unity that we had with 9/11, all of my political life, especially the days that I spent in the Congress, it has been with the concept of tranquility that people who have differences worked those differences out.

"For people to take a look at one's religion and their color and their language and their background, and to say that that should make a difference -- let's face it, I'm honest, I'm no new kid on the block. Everyone should want to see someone who looks like them and have their culture achieve the highest stations that we have in this country. Don't let me lie to you and tell you I don't feel a sense of pride with President Obama. As many differences as I may have with this president, I do feel a sense of pride for me, and my children, and my grandchildren! So the whole concept that one shouldn't take this into consideration, you leave that to those people that want to give a sermon on the mound.

"But I want to be realistic with you. But in this great country, to call a patriot a 'traitor'? To call someone who ventured to this country in order to make not only his life better, but to make America better? Who plays by the rules? Who comes here to improve the quality of education and he himself says he needed a little education? Who worked hard? Who gained political respect, not just by the public officials and the mayor, but by the people outside of his community? Doctor Linares' biggest asset was bringing people together no matter what their background was! To call this man a 'traitor' disappoints me beyond belief.

"Now, let me make it clear, when I drafted this press release, it had a whole lot of anger in it. When I finished it, it was a whole lot of reaching out. I could not believe that the senator was aware that this filth was being circulated. So I changed everything and said, 'Let him join with us today to reject whoever thought that they could put a wedge between our communities based on one's background.'

"But last night, I got a chance to watch a rerun of New York 1. And the question was asked, 'Is it true that you sent out this piece of literature condemning this man as a traitor because he supported me?' And I expected to hear a whole lot of political mumbling and rejection and 'someone did this but I don't know who.' But instead of doing that, instead of rebutting the fact that this came out of his political club, instead of rejecting  having his fingerprints on it and sending it out, he starting talking about public officials who had endorsed him. He started talking about Bill de Blasio and going to the Justice Department and Billy Thompson for endorsing him. Let me tell you something senator, you can mention all of the names you want, whether it's Cuomo, de Blasio or Thompson, I know them well enough to know they reject this and they reject the idea of this type of filth going out there. 

"We should never reach the point in this great country that political decisions are going to make you condemned as a traitor. Where you and your family and your community where you're raising your kids and your grand kids, and the label's going to be on you that you're a traitor. Traitor has a painful, painful label. This is not calling you a 'disappointment,' this is not saying, 'I disagree with you.' If you're a patriot, this means something to you. This is a stigma that no person has a right, just because they come from the same country before they reach this great country, when you get to this great country it means you put this filth behind you if you had it when you got here.

"And so I want these cameras to take a look at America. It stands behind me. It doesn't say Catholic, Protestant, Jew or Gentile. It doesn't say Latino, non-Latino. And the day will come that we don't want to have a Catholic called a traitor because they voted for a Protestant over a Catholic. Or a Jew is called a traitor because they voted for a Gentile over a Jewish member.  Or a black is called a traitor because they endorsed a non-black for a job.

"Pride is one thing, attacking someone in this manner is something else. And so it's not too late to say we make mistakes. We all make mistakes. This was more than a mistake. This was more than a mistake. It allows people to believe that you can go to a Jewish person and say, 'Yes I know our candidate's a bum, but you should vote for him anyway because he's Jewish.' Can you imagine? Or a Catholic could say it. Or a Muslim could say it! Or a Mormon could say it! 

"God forbid all of this pain and poison is not out of our country, but we're trying like hell to get rid of it. We're trying like hell to get rid of it. And so I don't think there's much more for me to say. I think this crowd, this multi-color, multicultural crowd speaks for itself, speaks for our country, speaks for our beloved congressional district here and the Bronx, it speaks for our country, it speaks for those who died for our country, and I don't see how the hell I can add anything to it."

Mr. Rangel declined to take much in the way of additional questions after delivering his lengthy statement.

Congressman Charlie Rangel speaking at his election night party in Harlem.

The race between veteran Congressman Charlie Rangel and State Senator Adriano Espaillat for the 13th Congressional District in Upper Manhattan will come down to paper ballots. Mr. Rangel was initially declared the winner by the Associated Press based on initial results provided by the New York City Board of Elections, but it was subsequently revealed those results did not include votes from many of the precincts in the district. After a re-examination of the votes, the BOE released unofficial results tonight including votes cast in all of the district's 506 precincts that show Mr. Rangel defeating Mr. Espaillat by a margin of just 802 votes. According to the BOE, Mr. Rangel received 18,075 votes, or 44.29 percent of the total cast, compared to Mr. Espaillat's 17,273, 42.33 percent of the votes cast.

These unofficial results do not include paper ballots cast by absentee voters and affidavit ballots submitted by those whose name is not on the voter rolls when they arrive at the polling place. Those paper ballots, which include votes for both candidates, will be counted by the BOE next Thursday and will be the deciding factor in this tight race.

On Thursday, Mr. Espaillat's supporters held a press conference in front of Mr. Rangel's office where they called for a federal monitor to oversee the counting of votes after the issues with the initial results. Some of the supporters also made allegations of voter suppression and voter fraud at the polls on election day. Attorneys for Mr. Espaillat claim they were unable to monitor the recount and sought an injunction against the BOE to be allowed to observe the ongoing vote count. That hearing is scheduled to take place in State Supreme Court Monday.

Mr. Espaillat's spokesman, Ibrahim Khan, released a statement about the unofficial results in which he promised the campaign will continue their push for "transparency" in the vote counting process.

"Four days after polls closed, we finally have a preliminary vote count, excluding thousands of paper ballots. With each new tally, Senator Espaillat's vote total increases," Mr. Khan said. "As paper ballots begin to be counted and this dead-heat race continues, we are grateful to all of our supporters and will continue to push for full transparency in counting every single vote."

According to BOE spokeswoman Valerie Vazquez, there are 2,110 paper ballots cast in the race so far. To make up the make up the difference between him and Mr. Rangel, Mr. Espaillat will need to earn about 69 percent of these votes when the paper ballots are counted next week. Though more absentee ballots may still come in and his supporters have claimed most of the paper ballots were cast in neighborhoods favorable to Mr. Espaillat, if these numbers are correct, it seems unlikely Mr. Espaillat would be able to earn enough of a majority of the paper ballots to take the win away from Mr. Rangel. Either way, considering Mr. Rangel has gone over forty years without losing his seat, Mr. Espaillat's performance in this race was certainly impressive.

View the unofficial results below, which also include the other candidates in the race, Clyde Williams, Joyce Johnson and Craig Schley.

(Updated 10:19 p.m. with the current paper ballot totals from the BOE.)

Congressman Charlie Rangel arriving at his election night party as John Liu looks on. (Photo: Getty)

Embattled Comptroller John Liu was one of several prominent political leaders who joined Congressman Charlie Rangel at his victory party in Harlem last night. Mr. Rangel took note of the fact that both he and Mr. Liu have faced their share of financial scandals.

"Do we have any of our public officials? Oh, John Liu, come on, this is where the money is," Mr. Rangel said as he called Mr. Liu on stage, presumably referencing Mr. Liu's job watching the city coffers rather than the investigation into his campaign contributions. "John has been so dedicated to people."

Mr. Rangel went on to compare the investigation into Mr. Liu's campaign to the censure he received from the House in 2010 for ethics violations related to taxes and his fundraising efforts for the center for public service at City College that bears his name.

"John, I thought they had something on you, but let me tell you, that you've been one fantastic friend and, fortunately, the same newsmakers that don't like you don't like me, so that makes the friendship more binding," Mr. Rangel said.

Mr. Liu responded that he was "so proud to be with the Harlem family here, the Rangel family."

As Mr. Liu left the stage, The Politicker asked him if he felt Mr. Rangel's victory despite what the congressman described as "hostile" press coverage of his past ethical issues contained any lessons about how the press treats politicians in New York.

"More important than the press, more important than the politicians is the people," Mr. Liu said. "And the will of the people has been decided tonight, Congressman Rangel will serve for at least another term."

Charlie Rangel preparing to cast a ballot for himself in Harlem. (Photo: Hunter Walker)

Charlie Rangel went to vote at P.S. 175 in Harlem this morning and, in a brief press conference afterward, the longtime congressman was dismissive of his opponents, the media and the entire possibility he might lose. Today's race is seen as potentially the toughest of the congressman's over forty years in office thanks to the changing demographics of his district. However, Mr. Rangel first replied with a joke when a reporter asked what he'd do if he loses.

"Well, if I lose tonight, I will sleep just like a baby and cry myself to sleep," he said with a smile.

After a few laughs, the Congressman followed up to say he doesn't think about losing at all.

"No, no," said Mr. Rangel. "If you have the spirit that's necessary to overcome these political obstacles and if you're fortunate enough to know that they're not obstacles that you can't overcome, than the whole attitude, 'What do I do if I lose?' never reaches that mental level. It really doesn't. I would find some way to tell you if I thought it did."

Prior to taking questions from the large crowd of assembled reporters, Congressman Rangel spoke for several minutes in an attempt to, in his words, "get rid of some of the nonsense questions" that have surrounded this race right off the bat.

"Let me try to get rid of some of the nonsense questions and that is, am I too old to run for reelection. Clearly, I've gone through the process, I've done what candidates are supposed to do," he said.

Several of Mr. Rangel's opponents have suggested his Upper Manhattan district is in need of new leadership after his over forty year tenure. The congressman has also been dogged by persistent reports of health problems. Between February and April he was hospitalized multiple times with what he described as spinal virus. Mr. Rangel attempted to shoot down any health concerns. He also implied his main rival, Adriano Espaillat, waited until he was in the hospital before deciding to run.

"I don't think anybody that's runnning or not running is going to challenge my health, albeit one candidate made certain that I had a health problem before he announced," Mr. Rangel said, adding, "Certainly, if health was a factor, he made one big political mistake."

Mr. Rangel said he was motivated to run to extend his lengthy tenure in the House of Representatives by the current climate in Washington. Though President Barack Obama has refrained from endorsing Mr. Rangel and even once implied he thought the congressman should retire, Mr. Rangel said his admiration for the president was one of his reasons for wanting to win re-election.

"The one reason why I think it's important that I be allowed to extend the service to my country, and the Congress and my district is because of the times that we find ourselves in the Congress. Never before have we faced such a fiscal crisis," said Mr. Rangel. "On the other side of this coin, I have never been so inspired by any politician and certainly no president as I have about President Obama."

In addition to Mr. Espaillat, former Democratic National Committee political director Clyde Williams, businesswoman Joyce Johnson and Craig Schley, an ex-model, are on the ballot against Mr. Rangel. The congressman said none of his opponents have shown they'd be a better choice for voters.

"I've been so fortunate in this campaign that none of them, not one of them, has ever indicated they can do the job better," Mr. Rangel said.

Both the New York Times and the Daily News gave their endorsements to Mr. Williams. Mr. Rangel criticized their decision, citing the large margin of victory he enjoyed in his last re-election campaign and his support from other elected officials.

"I know that some newspapers are committed to making decisions that are not always based on the facts, but that's their choice," Mr. Rangel said.

After nearly fifteen minutes of talking, Mr. Rangel's aides began to pry him away from the crowd of supporters and supporters that assembled outside the school to watch him vote. As he was walking back to his car, The Politicker asked about his accusation that Mr. Espaillat is hedging his bets in their congressional race by simultaneously circulating petitions in order to run re-election to the State Senate if he loses.

Congressman Rangel brandished an alleged copy of a petition he said Mr. Espaillat was circulating during their NY1 debate earlier this month. Yesterday, in a conversation with The Politicker, Mr. Espaillat vigorously denied he's still pursuing his senate seat and claimed the petition showed by Mr. Rangel looked "fake." However, the congressman repeated the charge on Good Day New York this morning saying Mr. Espaillat is "filing that he wants to run again for the State Senate" and "should at least be mature enough" to only go after one job.

In his press conference, Mr. Rangel reversed his stance and said he takes Mr. Espaillat's word that he's not running for multiple offices.

"I believe Esplinard when he says he's not running for anything except the Congress. I believe him," Mr. Rangel said, mispronouncing his opponents name. "I want this reporter and anyone else listening to know that when Senator Esplinard says on television with me that the only office that he's running for or interested in is the House of Representatives and that he has no interest in the seat that he vacated, which is the [State] Senate, that I am one person that believes him."

Charlie Rangel (Photo: Facebook)

Congressman Charlie Rangel is trying to use a Super PAC that's backing his opponent State Senator Adriano Espaillat to his own advantage. The Politicker received a mailer from Mr. Rangel at our Washington Heights bureau in which the congressman encourages people to give him their votes because of the Super PAC's support for his rival.

"Pinned down on the battlefield in Korea, Charlie Rangel decided to devote himself to public service if God let him survive. And he's never stopped fighting for us," the mailer says. "But now right-wing Tea Partiers from Texas are trying to stop him by telling us how to vote--and its time to fight back."

The "super PAC" from Texas Mr. Rangel refers to in his mailer is the Campaign for Primary Accountability, Houston-based PAC that targets incumbents. In a statement announcing its support for Ms. Espaillat, the CPA described Mr. Rangel as a prime example of the downside of incumbency.

"Charlie Rangel has sadly become the model of how some long-term incumbents become too comfortable with the special interests that infest Washington," the statement said. "As chairman of the powerful Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Rangel was responsible for extending the notorious tax break that allowed GE to pay zero taxes on billions of dollars of profits."

The CPA has supported both Democrats and Republicans who are running against longtime incumbents. Though the PAC's activities have been bipartisan, it has several prominent conservative donors including ERICPAC, the political action committee run by House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, and Joe Ricketts, the billionaire who made headlines earlier this month when his own Super PAC considered a plan to target President Barack Obama by painting him as a "metrosexual black Abe Lincoln."

Illustration by, Dale Stephanos

Congressman Charlie Rangel didn’t want to discuss who will succeed him in the House of Representatives.

“Is this an obituary?” he asked during a sometimes combative phone interview on Monday afternoon, which the longtime lawmaker described as a “rough one.”

“I’m 81-years-old, you want me to discuss what happens in three years? At the end of this year plus two. Would that make sense at all?” he asked.

Rather than deciding whom to anoint as heir, the outspokenly liberal octogenarian is facing what could be the closest campaign of his more than forty year career, while simultaneously coping with fading health and the waning power of the political empire he built in Harlem.

As four challengers line up to run against him, Mr. Rangel, who normally relishes being the public face of his Harlem home, spent much of the time between February and April dealing with a back injury that was shrouded in secrecy. Mr. Rangel’s staff initially said he incurred the injury “lifting boxes.” His longtime ally, Councilwoman Inez Dickens later said he hurt himself moving a couch with his wife.

During his two month absence, the congressman made multiple trips to the hospital, where he stayed under an assumed name, and missed over 100 votes in the House of Representatives. He has yet to return to Washington.

Mr. Rangel eventually re-emerged for an April 10 press conference, at which he said he was suffering from a spinal infection.

“At a certain age, all of us have the cartridge that separates the spinal disc and they wear out,” Mr. Rangel told the assembled media.

“One of the viruses found out it was vulnerable and bang! It went in there.”

The shifting explanations for his health issues and his disappearance from the public eye caused rumors about Mr. Rangel’s health to run rampant in political circles. (Since then, Mr. Rangel sat down for a pair of television interviews where he seemed to be doing much better.)

In his talk with The Politicker, Mr. Rangel even broke into song when we asked about his well-being.

“Oh, look at me now,” he warbled, before dismissing questions about his health and comparing the situation to conspiracies surrounding the President’s birth certificate.

“You want something from the hospital? What do you want where I was born? I mean what is this, an Obama thing?” he asked. “I’m at the top of my game.”

Mr. Rangel, a proud man known for wearing immaculate, sharp suits over dress shirts with monogrammed French cuffs, said he preferred to deal with his health problems privately.

“I don’t want people checking my ass to see whether my spine is in order,” he said.

But his health isn’t the only question mark regarding Mr. Rangel’s future. The four challengers in next month’s Democratic primary—particularly State Senator Adriano Espaillat and Clyde Williams, a former political director of the Democratic National Committee—are widely thought to be the toughest opposition he has faced since the 1970’s.

In addition to Mr. Espaillat and Mr. Williams, Craig Schley, a former model and intern of Mr. Rangel’s, and a businesswoman named Joyce Johnson are in the race.

They all say Upper Manhattan needs new leadership.

“People in the district want to see a change. The congressman has been there since 1970, the year before that, man walked on the Moon, the Mets won their first championship and Joe Namath was throwing touchdown passes,” Mr. Espaillat said in a phone interview. “I think that I can bring a bold and fresh, new voice to Congress that can articulate the issues that are relevant right now that weren’t relevant in 1970.”

One of the reasons opponents say the district needs new representation is that the shape and composition of the seat has transformed since the congressman took office.

In his 2007 autobiography, Mr. Rangel said he received his district as a birthday present in 1970 from Governor Nelson Rockefeller, with whom he enjoyed a “special relationship” as a member of the State Assembly.

Mr. Rangel held on to his tailormade seat in Harlem, which he calls “the capital of black America,” for the next four decades.

Mr. Rangel is very well-liked in his home turf. Bill Thompson, who nearly defeated Michael Bloomberg in the 2009 mayoral election, remembers the experience of campaigning in Harlem alongside Mr. Rangel as “special.”

“People come from one side of the street or the other just to say, ‘Hello.’ And that’s Charlie,” Mr. Thompson said. “People just respond to Charlie.”

As Mr. Rangel put it in his memoir, “The bottom line is that I’m the only New York congressman whose district has always remained entirely on the island of Manhattan. God is good.”

Over the past twenty years, the Hispanic population in the district has increased by nine percent and the African American population dropped by ten. To deal with the demographic shift, and ensure his reelection, Mr. Rangel’s allies tried to get a favorable district drawn for him again this year. But the once mighty political machine built by the congressman lacked the muscle to carve a perfect perch for their leader amid growing calls for redistricting reform and the evolution of their base in Harlem.

As a result, for the first time in his career, Mr. Rangel is representing areas of the Bronx and new territories in Upper Manhattan, along with his Harlem haven.

Mr. Rangel points out the Latino majority in the district is nothing new and he believes he has earned the trust of the diverse denizens.

“I work hard at my job, and so, this isn’t just longevity,” he said.

The race for Mr. Rangel’s seat is generally seen as a battle between Dominicans, who back Mr. Espaillat’s run, and Mr. Rangel’s power base in the black community. Mr. Espaillat is a product of that wave of Latino immigration that transformed Upper Manhattan, and if his campaign is successful, he would be the first member of Congress of Dominican descent. However, he believes the desire for change in the district isn’t confined to Latinos.

“The Dominican community has grown, that’s for sure, but I think that they share some of the same problems that other communities share,” he said. “This desire for change is not exclusive to the Dominican community.”

Mr. Williams, for his part, came to Harlem amid a second wave of change that redefined the district. He arrived in 2001, to work as an aide to former President Bill Clinton, whose choice to open an office uptown was widely seen as the beginning of a new era of gentrification

in the neighborhood. Rather than simply a contest between Dominicans and African Americans, he said, the race for Mr. Rangel’s seat is about many groups who have changed the look of Upper Manhattan.

“Over the last few years, this community’s become much more diverse and, not just from a racial standpoint, it’s become much more diverse from an economic standpoint,” Mr. Williams said. “This has been a Latino district for a while, … but you’ve had a huge influx of whites that have moved into the congressional district, Asians that have moved into the congressional district.”

According to Mr. Williams, these new residents created a need for new leadership.

“Those things make it a more complicated endeavor and I believe that you need someone who can represent all those interest groups, not just one,” he said.

Changing demographics aren’t the only obstacle to Mr. Rangel’s re-election bid. The congressman is also dealing with the fallout from his 2010 censure by the House Ethics Committee for violations including soliciting donations from lobbyists for a Center for Public Service at City College that bears his name, failing to properly disclose income and assets, using a rent-controlled apartment as a campaign office and failing to pay taxes on his vacation home.

Mr. Rangel argued he was guilty of nothing more than “being overzealous in recruiting money for CCNY and sloppy bookkeeping,” and the censure was part of a strategy on the part of Republicans to regain power after the 2008 elections.

“How does The Times now put it, I’m ‘ethically challenged,’” he said. “I was one of the major targets that the Republicans were going to shoot after.”

Mr. Rangel denied his re-election bid is motivated by a desire to refurbish his legacy following the ethics flap, saying he’s in the race to help President Obama fulfill his promise of change, and to stop Republicans in Washington from enacting policies he sees as an assault on the “stuff that really made America and the middle class.

“To see all of this just going by in fast forward. And to see so few voices screaming out against it,” Mr. Rangel went on. “I will fight like hell to be able to make a contribution. To be able at least to tell my grandkids, ‘We thought we had change and I was there until the very end.’”

With his health woes and many challengers, Mr. Rangel may not get to decide whether he stays until “the end,” which brings us once again to the question of his heirs.

With Mr. Rangel at the helm, the Harlem political machine birthed a mayor (David N. Dinkins), a governor (David Paterson), and the neighborhood’s current representatives in the City Council and both Houses of the State Legislature.

But Mr. Espaillat—who had more people sign his petitions to get on the ballot than Mr. Rangel and who just about matched his fundraising totals for the last filing period—believes Mr. Rangel’s performance in this race so far shows their days of dominance are on the wane.

“We got more signatures than they did, so if there is a machine there, it’s a machine that’s stumbling a little bit,” Mr. Espaillat said. “We were neck-and-neck with the fundraising piece in the last filing.”

Mr. Rangel, sounding every bit the political lion, dismissed the idea his challengers pose a significant threat to him.

“I swear by Jesus, I forgot the fourth candidate’s name, and I’m not even kidding you,” he insisted. “I want you to talk about who is running against me, what they’ve done—and did they ever do anything without my help?”

hwalker@observer.com

It was a summer day and the man who is now the fourth most senior in the the House of Representatives was in his second term as a New York State assemblyman and preparing to make a run for Congress against a powerful incumbent, Adam Clayton Powell. Mr. Rockefeller called Mr. Rangel to an office in the State Capitol building in Albany.

"There were all these guys on the floor poring over a map of the state of New York. They had slide rules and string, and grease pencils and data about the population of the various counties and cities from the recent census," Mr. Rangel wrote. "They were actually drawing the congressional district reapportionment lines for the 1970 elections."

Mr. Rockefeller smiled, wished him happy birthday and handed him a pencil.

"I proceeded to draw myself a wicked district in Manhattan," Mr. Rangel wrote.

Mr. Rangel has since earned a reputation as one of the G.O.P's most outspoken opponents on Capitol Hill, but during his years in Albany, he developed what he described as a "special relationship" with the Republican governor. Though Mr. Rangel has always been a Democrat, in his early congressional campaigns, Mr. Rockefeller arranged for him to run on the Republican line too. In 1972, a billboard on Broadway proclaimed "Re-elect President Nixon and Congressman Charles Rangel--both Republican." Later on, he would make Nixon's enemies list.

The congressman held on to his tailormade congressional district for over forty years thanks to an Albany tradition, which dictated the dean of the delegation got their district drawn before the rest of the map was figured out. This year, Mr. Rangel's allies in Albany attempted to draw him another favorable district, but their plan fell through.

Clyde Williams

Former DNC political director Clyde Williams faced two challenges to the 6,000 petition signatures he obtained to get on the ballot in the congressional race for Upper Manhattan's 13th district that he blamed on "associates" of the incumbent, Charlie Rangel. Those objections have expired and Mr. Williams said he's going to be on the ballot without issue.

"Thousands of residents who signed my petitions participated in the electoral process and now their voices will be heard. I will be on the ballot on June 26," Mr. Williams told The Politicker. "We now enter a new phase of the race and I look forward to continuing to engage voters and share ideas for the future of this community."

Last week, Mr. Williams posted a note on Facebook decrying the challenges to his petitions filed by Desiree Harris and Jerry Washington as "associates of Charlie Rangel" attempting "to block my access to the ballot." Ms. Harris and Mr. Washington also filed challenges to petitions obtained by two of the other candidates in the race, Craig Schley and Joyce Johnson.

"Some might say a petition challenge is the sincerest form of flattery. But in fact what my opponents are challenging is the right of the people to be heard – trying to silence the voices of change," Mr. Williams wrote.

Ms. Harris lives in the same apartment building as Mr. Rangel, whose campaign declined to comment on the issue last week.

Petition objections require a contact person and both Mr. Washington and Mr. Harris listed a man named Arthur Greig on their challenges. Mr. Greig was the Co-Law Chair of the New York County Democratic Party while Mr. Rangel's longtime ally, Assemblyman Herman "Denny" Farrell was chairman. He also worked a special counsel to the chairman of the Assembly Ways and Means Committee in the late 1998. Mr. Farrell has been chair of that committee since 1994. Mr. Greig also served as counsel to another ally of Mr. Rangel's, David Paterson while Mr. Paterson was minority leader in the State Senate.

Charles Rangel,

Congressman Charlie Rangel appeared on former Governor David Paterson's show today to discuss his re-election bid and his health following two months where he was in and out of the hospital.

"I'm charged up, I'm ready to go," Mr. Rangel said when asked about his health. "I'm pretty excited about how far the president has gone with what he's got to work with."

Mr. Rangel went on to explain he finds the Republican presidential candidates "frightening" because they were able to "get as far as they've gotten" with "so little talent."

"I was a little worried about the congressman until he started attacking the Republican candidates for president, then I figured out his health was fine," joked Mr. Paterson, a longtime friend and ally of the congressman.

Mr. Rangel is being challenged by four rivals; State Senator Adriano Espaillat, former DNC head Clyde Williams, businesswoman Joyce Johnson and his ex-intern Craig Schley. The congressman is thought to be particularly vulnerable after more than four decades in power because the demographics in Harlem are shifting to become more Latino. Mr. Rangel told Mr. Paterson he didn't notice the changes as they were occurring, but the new shape of the neighborhood became clear to him over time.

"You can't feel a district that's changing around you, especially when you were born and raised in it," Mr. Rangel said. "Like anything else, the changes are so small when they occur, but after ten years, you can dramatically see the changes."

Many politicians, including Mr. Rangel's challenger, Mr. Espaillat, hoped this year's redistricting process would result in Upper Manhattan being cut to create a predominantly Latino district in Washington Heights while preserving the historically African American district in Harlem. Mr. Rangel, who has previously said he ran for re-election in 2010 because he felt he could influence the redistricting process said he fought for changes "that would not dramatically alter the boundaries of Harlem. He told Mr. Paterson he was "hurt" and "disappointed" by the end result of this year's round of redistricting.

"It's a very emotional thing to see history being made, unfolded in front of you in a way that you would not want it to happen," Mr. Rangel said.

Mr. Rangel's re-election bid was the subject of a front page story in today's New York Times. The story included a rather interesting quote from Adam Clayton Powell IV, who has a long history with the congressman. Mr. Rangel made it to the House after defeating Mr. Powell's father, Adam Clayton Powell Jr. in 1970. The younger Mr. Powell went on to serve as Mr. Rangel's intern and to challenge the congressman for his seat in 2010. In the Times story, Mr. Powell had a rather colorful description of that race.

"I got my spanking two years ago; Espaillat will get his spanking now," Mr. Powell said.

Mr. Paterson asked Mr. Rangel about Mr. Powell's remark. Mr. Rangel declined to comment directly.

"I'm glad that he's not running this time," the congressman said.

In December, Mr. Powell told The Politicker he didn't want to challenge Mr. Rangel, but he left the door open for a future run in the district.