HARLEM — Manhattan Assemblyman Keith Wright conceded the Democratic congressional primary race in District 13 and threw his support behind a victorious state Sen. Adriano Espaillat Thursday afternoon at a joint press conference in Harlem with outgoing Rep. Charles Rangel.
“This has been a long and very spirited campaign,” Wright said. “We put a lot of issues on the table…We’ve left it all on the battlefield and certainly now is the time to come together.
“I want him to be successful… politics is over now. It’s time to serve.”
The announcement comes after Tuesday’s Democratic primary, in which Espaillat narrowly beat out Wright, who Rangel endorsed, with a little more than 1,000 votes separating the two. Espaillat led with 37 percent of the vote compared to 34 percent for Wright, according to the Board of Elections' unofficial tally.
Wright initially refused to concede the race Tuesday night, calling for the counting of all paper ballots and an investigation by the Department of Justice into allegations of voter suppression.
But on Thursday, Wright and Espaillat briefly met in Sylvia’s Also around 3 p.m. in private before walking into the main restaurant, Sylvia’s, to meet with Rangel.
The three men emerged and called for unity as they were flanked by various city politicians who endorsed each campaign, including City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, who supported Espaillat, and Harlem Councilwoman Inez Dickens, who supported Wright.
“We have enough room for everyone to work together and the only way we can achieve it is to work together with unity,” Rangel said.
Espaillat told a story of how Wright’s father, Judge Bruce M. Wright, who served on the state Supreme Court, swore him in when he was first elected to the state Assembly in 1996. Espaillat also said he interned for the judge at one point.
“There is a kinship here between the assemblyman and I and this neighborhood and the neighborhood that I grew up in,” Espaillat said.
“This is a special moment to coalesce and bring together all the goodwill that we have to make sure our neighborhoods are lifted.”
Rangel, who called it an “awkward race,” also noted the historic nature of the election in a district that has been represented by two African-Americans since Adam Clayton Powell Jr. took office in 1945.
Espaillat could become the first Dominican-American elected to Congress if he wins the November general election.
“I’d like to know how the Italians felt when the Puerto Ricans came into East Harlem or how the Irish and the German Jews felt when the Dominicans went to Washington Heights; or how the Jewish community felt when the Puerto Ricans went to the Bronx; or the whites in Harlem felt when we came from Hell’s Kitchen and moved in to Harlem,” Rangel said.
“But I do know one thing, that’s what America is all about, that’s what change is all about and the most important thing is that we work together.”
Rangel said he would work with Espaillat to make the transition to Capitol Hill smoother if he wins, including meeting with the black and Hispanic Congressional Caucuses.
