LOUDONVILLE, N.Y. (Legal Newsline) - Not only does Congressman Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., hold a nine-point lead over his primary opponent, the 22-term representative holds the financial edge as well.
By a 41-32 percent margin, New York voters favor Rangel over state Sen. Adriano Espaillat heading into the final five weeks of the Democratic primary rematch, according to The New York Times/NY1/Siena College Survey released Wednesday evening.
A little more than 1,000 votes separated Adriano and Rangel in 2012 primary.
The other Democratic candidates vying for 2014 nomination to represent New York's 13th Congressional District are Michael Walrond (six percent) and Yolanda Garcia (five percent).
"This race was close two years ago in a low turnout primary and with about a month to go, it looks like the rematch is going to be another closely fought race that comes down to which campaign does a better job of motivating its supporters to vote on the last Tuesday in June," Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg said.
Among black voters, Rangel has a 68-5 percent lead, while Espaillat holds the advantage with Latino voters, 52-25 percent. White voters are closely divided.
Rangel has a 10-point lead in the larger Manhattan portion of the district, while the two leading candidates are running neck-and-neck in the Bronx, the survey found.
"Rangel is more well-known than Espaillat and has a 52-29 percent favorability rating," Greenburg said.
"While Espaillat has a 41-16 percent favorability rating, he remains unknown to more than 40 percent of likely voters. Rangel's favorability rating is very strong with black voters and is slightly positive with Latinos, while Espaillat has a very strong favorability rating with Latino voters and is nearly break even with blacks. Both candidates are viewed favorably by white voters."
By a 57-35 percent margin, voters say Rangel's age helps him have the experience and wisdom to do a good job in Congress rather than his age might make it too difficult for him to do the work required of a member of Congress, the poll found.
Much like he did two years ago, Rangel holds the financial edge over Adriano, raising $378,000 more than the state senator so far this election cycle, according to opensecrets.org.
As of March 31, Rangel has raised $705,759, spent $485,965 and had $224,828 cash on hand. Conversely, Espaillat raised $325,833, spent $116,630 and had $219,161 remaining in his war chest.
The top three industry funders of Rangel's campaign are real estate investors ($38,700 in total contributions), lawyers/law firms ($33,050) and public sector unions ($30,500), according to opensecrets.
The survey was conducted May 15-20 by telephone calls to 678 likely primary voters.
Reach David Yates at elections@legalnewsline.com.
N.Y. congressional primary: Rangel leading in polls and in cash
