Adriano Espaillat Declared winner in Race to Replace Congressman Rangel in Harlem

By Gloria Dulan-Wilson

Hello All:

CONGRESSMAN CHARLIE RANGEL - HARLEM 

Well, now that we've all had a chance to absorb the shock, let me reiterate something I asked nearly 25 years ago at a meeting in Albany at the Black and Puerto Rican Caucus, when the Latino faction decided to start Somos Unos (which means for ourselves alone) "Got Spanish?"  In other words, are any of us who were Harlemites back then, and those who are Harlemites now  - do you speak a second language sufficient to understand what's being said about you in front of you by people who you are working with?

Most folks looked at me with a blank look as if to say, "what are you talking about - we don't need to speak any other language but English, we run Harlem and always will."  Really?

The other thing I warned about, especially after that tight 2% margin of error when Espaillat ran against Charlie Rangel two years ago, was that the Harlem Dems should be intelligent enough to not split the vote - that they should have only ONE CONTENDER and back him all the way.

Harlem's being gerrymandered so that they were now attached to the Bronx of course did not help the situation any at all - something that should have been addressed and revised (to the extent that that was possible - it was done under the Bushwacker administration; went to several hearings about it under the repuglycon regime, but don't know if there had been any subsequent action under the current administration to reinstate Harlem to its original configuration).

Of course, the most intelligent thing to have done was to have had Congressman Rangel retire last year, prior to the election, pass the baton to his selected heir apparent - the way Floyd Flake did when he passed the baton to Greg Meeks, and allow that candidate to launch his own campaign.  

KEITH L.T. WRIGHT - NYS ASSEMBLYMAN (Lost bid to replace Charlie Rangel in Congress

But somehow, Harlem, dear Harlem, is still way to shortsighted and stuck on stupid to deal with any of these recommendations - and now, having shot themselves in the foot, have a bitter pill to swallow.  The result:  Lazy voters, underestimating the opposition, not having the common sense to strategize so that the turn out would be a WIN - WIN situation; squandering the future of Black Harlem, whose legacy is already under siege vie over priced housing, invasion of Jews and whites, cannibalizing our traditional neighborhoods and cultures.   The combination of Bloomie -led gentrification and not so benign neglect; coupled with a sense of "entitlement" that we Harlemites tend to have, where we don't unify to, because we are afraid that one person is going to get more than we will, has brought us to this forking the road. 

I'm not going to say: I TOLD YOU SO - I think you can see that for yourselves.  But let me spell it out for you - 6 people who should not have even been in the race when their polls were so low it was obvious they were delusional or being paid to siphon of votes from the main contender KEITH L.T.RIGHT  - and yes, I said it - they should have stepped down and BACKED KEITH WRIGHT - have you learned nothing from the Al Gore Campaign tragedy and the so called "Green Party" and the machinations of Ralph Nader that caused the election to fall into other hands.

Obstensibly, these six people pulled an aggregate of 10,117 VOTES from Keith Wright!!!  Had those individuals not siphoned off the votes, Wright would possibly have had 24,000+ votes.

I've often said to those of my friends and acquaintances who don't have a snowball's chance in hell of winning an election, and expend a lot of money proving that point, come see me - I'll show you better ways to waste your money, or even more intelligent ways of investing it so that you really do benefit society.  You know, scholarships, schools and educational programs; affordable housing for New Yorkers, etc.   But,  if you just must throw money away, I could seriously use between $250,000 to $1,000,000 - to help with some things I'm personally trying to accomplish.  So before you decide to run, remember - DON'T!! - and then, secondly,  (or maybe even firstly):  CALL GLORIA - she could use the money you're about to waste (and I'm quite serious about this.)

The paltry turn out of 42,883 voters makes me ask, just who were you campaigning to in the first place? The aggregate population of the 13th CD is approximately 225,000 (according to census bureau) - so the turn out was about less than 10% of the population.  So who were they campaigning to?  Four family members and a hand full of neighbors?  Get real.

Adriano Espaillat - Possibly the Heir to Charlie Rangel's soon-to-be-vacated seat in Congress

For those who want to see what happens when you're stuck on selfishness (didn't want to say "stuck on stupid," because some of the finest minds and some of my best friends live in Harlem, and one of them ran for this office --SMH):

THE RACE TO REPLACE CHARLIE RANGEL--RESULTS 13TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT--WINNER SENATOR ADRIANO ESPAILLAT

BOARD OF ELECTIONS IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK 2016 Federal Primary UNOFFICIAL ELECTION NIGHT RESULTS Home | Back Representative in Congress 13th Congressional District - Democratic SAM SLOAN KEITH L. T. WRIGHT GUILLERMO LINARES ADAM CLAYTON POWELL CLYDE E. WILLIAMS SUZAN D. JOHNSON-COOK MICHAEL GALLAGHER YOHANNY M. CACERES ADRIANO ESPAILLAT WRITE-IN Reported * (Democratic) (Democratic) (Democratic) (Democratic) (Democratic) (Democratic) (Democratic) (Democratic) (Democratic) New York 96.77% 136 13081 2006 2232 4390 1842 297 83 13364 111 Bronx 99.00% 61 1418 349 432 275 274 73 22 2371 16 Total 197 14499 2355 2664 4665 2116 370 105 15735 127 * Percentage of Scanners Reported (Note:  I don't know why, but this chart would not shrink to fit the page-so it is running off the sides - owing to my lack of tech-savvy.  Sorry - LOL) Before I  say congratulations to Congressman to be Adriano Espaillat, however, there is the matter of absentee ballots that need to be addressed -  and the slim possibility that enough people outside of Harlem cared enough to have their voices heard and took the time to send in their votes. So everybody hold your breath.  In the interim, Espaillat is tentatively the first Dominican American to be elected to Congress from NY.   That said, I want to wish "Happy retirement and a job well done" to Congressman Charlie Rangel And to Keith, better luck next time. Stay Blessed &  ECLECTICALLY BLACK Gloria