NY Times-Congressman Charlie Rangel Wins Primary In NY

Congressman Charles Rangel with Robert Morgenthau, Council Member Inez Dickens, and former NY Mayor David Dinkins: Todd Heisler/NY Times

(Story reported by Raymond Hernandez and Nate Schweber for the NY Times)

Representative Charles B. Rangel, the battle-scarred Democratic incumbent facing numerous ethics charges, captured his party’s nomination on Tuesday after a nasty six-way primary battle in which his opponents sharply questioned his fitness to serve.

The victory makes it virtually certain that Mr. Rangel, a legendary figure in city and state politics, will win the November general election in his overwhelmingly Democratic Congressional district in Upper Manhattan.

With 59 percent of the vote counted, Mr. Rangel had 53 percent, trailed by his chief rival, Adam Clayton Powell IV, with 25 percent.

Around 11:30 p.m., with 32 percent of the votes counted, Mr. Rangel addressed about 75 supporters at the Uptown Grand, a supper club in Harlem, and declared victory.

“I don’t know how this will be misconstrued by the press,” Mr. Rangel said. “But no matter what they say, I go back to Washington a stronger man than I have ever been.”

(Click here to read the full story on the NY Times website.)