Democrat vs. Democrat: five tough primaries that pit left against itself

Republicans have become famous for eating their own in primaries. The Democrats? Not so much. But there are still a handful of interesting Democrat vs. Democrat races this cycle. Here’s a list:

2. New York: Adriano Espaillat vs. Charles Rangel

Pearl Gabell/AP
State Sen. Adriano Espaillat and Rep. Charles Rangel participate in a debate at Lehman College in the Bronx on June 11 during the Democratic primary for the 13th Congressional District in New York.

Update: On June 24, as he did in 2012, Congressman Rangel of New York narrowly beat state Senator Espaillat to win renomination. The margin of victory was 47.4 percent to 43.6 percent. In November, no Republican is running against Rangel, so he’s a lock to win a 23rd term in Congress.  

Here’s the background: Rangel has been in the House since 1971, and has won renomination easily every two years – until 2012. Then, Espaillat came within about 1,000 votes of defeating Rangel in the primary.

In 2010, Rangel got into ethics trouble, leading to his censure and the end of his reign as chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee. In that year’s primary, he faced six other candidates and won with 51 percent of the vote.

This year, age and race came to the fore. Rangel, in his 80s, is black (and part Puerto Rican); Espaillat, a generation younger, is Hispanic (born in the Dominican Republic). Redistricting in 2011 cut into the Harlem-centered district’s African American base and added more Hispanics, adding to Rangel's challenge. After Rangel retires, the district is likely to elect a Hispanic to Congress. 

2 of 5

Dear Reader,

About a year ago, I happened upon this statement about the Monitor in the Harvard Business Review – under the charming heading of “do things that don’t interest you”:

“Many things that end up” being meaningful, writes social scientist Joseph Grenny, “have come from conference workshops, articles, or online videos that began as a chore and ended with an insight. My work in Kenya, for example, was heavily influenced by a Christian Science Monitor article I had forced myself to read 10 years earlier. Sometimes, we call things ‘boring’ simply because they lie outside the box we are currently in.”

If you were to come up with a punchline to a joke about the Monitor, that would probably be it. We’re seen as being global, fair, insightful, and perhaps a bit too earnest. We’re the bran muffin of journalism.

But you know what? We change lives. And I’m going to argue that we change lives precisely because we force open that too-small box that most human beings think they live in.

The Monitor is a peculiar little publication that’s hard for the world to figure out. We’re run by a church, but we’re not only for church members and we’re not about converting people. We’re known as being fair even as the world becomes as polarized as at any time since the newspaper’s founding in 1908.

We have a mission beyond circulation, we want to bridge divides. We’re about kicking down the door of thought everywhere and saying, “You are bigger and more capable than you realize. And we can prove it.”

If you’re looking for bran muffin journalism, you can subscribe to the Monitor for $15. You’ll get the Monitor Weekly magazine, the Monitor Daily email, and unlimited access to CSMonitor.com.

You've read  of  free articles. Subscribe to continue.