NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Wednesday, April 23, 2014, 7:28 PM
They were happy to shake his hand, but they’re not voting for Rep Charles Rangel.
Harlem’s longtime political lion took his re-election bid to the streets Wednesday, shaking hands and chatting up residents and merchants along E. 116th St. in East Harlem.
But not everyone the 83-year-old congressman shook hands with pledged their support.
“He’s outdated,” Leslie Valdez, 41, told the Daily News after Rangel walked off. “We need some new blood and new ideas.”
Vincent Barreiro, the owner of Casa Latina Music Shop, agreed.
“We need somebody who fights for us,” Barreiro said after Rangel left his shop. “We really need somebody who puts his feet on the ground. We need somebody new.”
Rangel, who was flanked by about a dozen supporters, including Councilwoman Inez Dickens and former Assemblyman Adam Clayton Powell IV, also received plenty of encouragement.
Rosetta Johnson, 60, said she met Rangel at the start of his career and vowed not to flip-flop on the congressman, who has held his seat for 44 years.
“I met him when I was 16,” Johnson said of the 22-term incumbent following their brief chat at Sam’s Famous Pizza, where Rangel noshed on a cheese slice. “He’s a good man and I believe in what he says. I’ll be with him all the way.”
Rangel, who is fending off three challengers including state Sen. Adriano Espaillat in the June 24 Democratic primary, insists he’s not worried.
“My contract is up. I’m fighting to get it extended for two years,” Rangel said, a day after he gained the endorsement of former President Bill Clinton.
“There’s no worry,” he added. “I gotta work at it.”
Yahoo Local News – New York Daily News
http://ift.tt/1frE0Um
via Great Local News: New York http://ift.tt/1iZiLP1
No comments:
Post a Comment