In one of the city’s most contentious congressional races in recent history, a notoriously beleaguered incumbent will square off today against four political hopefuls vying to unseat him, setting the stage for what may be an entirely new order in Harlem politics.
New York’s primary races will play out across the state, filled with several closely watched races that carry deep implications for the November elections.
Most political experts have their eyes on the race for the 15th congressional district seat, which features one of the most crowded and cutthroat primaries for the post in recent decades.
[…] These four new power brokers—Adam Clayton Powell IV, Joyce Johnson, Vince Morgan, and Jonathan Tasini—are part of an up-and-coming political generation, a different breed than the Gang of Four and clubhouse pols. Each promises to recalibrate what’s widely perceived to be a broken political system, each offers a compelling narrative, and each offers some novel (and some equally trite) ideas.
But if history stays its course and pundits’ predictions hold true, it may be too soon for any of these newly minted contenders to step into the coveted role.
Rangel is, after all, a relic of sorts of a bygone cherished era in Harlem politics, and many of his residents are still holding fast to these final vestiges. And in Harlem and in New York at large, the significance of incumbency is often unparalleled.
“This is New York City and New York state politics. It takes a lot, a lot, to get incumbents out of office,” said Barnard political science professor Kimberley Johnson. “It takes a huge, huge collapse [for a controversy to influence the political outcome].”
Read the full story at the Columbia Spectator.
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