Rangel shoots down resignation rumors

(via Examiner)

Poor Charlie Rangel. No one believes him!

He says he’s running for re-election, but rumors persist he’ll drop out before the vote. Now he’s pushing back against another rumor that he will resign after winning re-election so as to manipulate the special election process in favor of his chosen successor, Keith Wright.

The Daily News scribe Juan Gonzalez wrote today on that subject.

“Many insiders suspect Rangel, who has been ill for months, plans to run for office only to resign and arrange for his designated successor, Assemblyman Keith Wright, to be handed the congressional seat.”

Untrue, Rangel insists! His campaign spokesman Bob Liff just released a forcefully worded statement to contradict Gonzalez’s story.

“I am not in this race so I could politically manipulate the system. The constituents I have long served know, and those who I now seek to represent will learn, that I am a straight-talker. Any rumors that say I’m not going to serve out a full term are false. 

Again, I am absolutely running for re-election. I intend to serve my entire term. There is no wiggle room”

State Sen. Adriano Espaillat has already gathered enough petition signatures to challenge Rangel in the June primary. The race is setting up a potential clash between Harlem’s dwindling African American population and its growing Dominican one. If elected, Espaillat would be the first Dominican American member of Congress from New York.