N.Y. State Supreme Court To Hold Hearing On Rangel-Espaillat Race

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- What was thought to be a primary election win for Rep. Charles Rangel is not a done deal.

The New York State Supreme Court will hold a hearing Monday to look closely at the primary between 21-term congressman Rangel and his prime challenger, state Sen. Adriano Espaillat, CBS 2's Marcia Kramer reported Friday.

Espaillat said the votes in dozens of election districts have not been accounted for. Although Rangel claimed victory on Tuesday, his lead has continued to shrink in the 13th Congressional District.

Rangel's frontrunner status is at stake three days after the primary, with his lead having steadily gone down as outstanding ballots have been counted. The latest figures showed him ahead by only 44 percent to Espaillat's 41 percent.

The Espaillat campaign said it was pleased with the court's decision to hold the hearing, given that there are more than 70 election districts where votes have not been accounted for, in addition to thousands of affidavit ballots that have yet to be counted.

"The [Board of Elections] continues to stonewall not only our campaign, but also the news media, which is particularly disturbing given that it blocks the free flow of information and transparency – the bedrock of our democratic system," Espaillat said.

On Thursday, City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez told 1010 WINS that when the votes are counted, Espaillat could potentially emerge at the winner.

"We believe that at the end of this process, the numbers of this election will be completely different from the numbers provided on June 26," Rodriguez said.

A spokesperson for the Rangel campaign told CBS 2 that the congressman is confident that at the conclusion of the vote counting process, he will be victorious.

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