Orrin Hatch isn’t the only incumbent in uncharted territory today. Here’s the lowdown on former House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel:
Rep. Charlie Rangel is fighting for the Democratic nomination in a newly redrawn New York district after a more than four-decades-long congressional career.
He has been one of the most high-profile lawmakers who hit a low point in 2010 after his censure on the House floor.
The 21-term representative is locked in a five-way race Tuesday for the nomination in his Harlem-area district that now has more Latino-Americans than African-Americans, a shift that has no doubt helped Rangel’s fiercest competition, New York state Sen. Adriano Espaillat.
Espaillat, a 57-year-old Dominican-American, has used his background to court Latino votes and take aim at the 82-year-old Rangel over his long tenure in Washington and his ethics abuses.
After the 2010 ethics problems, President Obama suggested that the Harlem Democrat should retire “with dignity” but Rangel still touts his ties to Democratic leaders.
