NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 26: Congressman Charles Rangel speaks after declaring himself the winner in the race for the Democratic primary challenge in New York’s 15th congressional district on June 26, 2012 in New York City. After a more than four-decades-long congressional career, Rangel fought for the Democratic nomination in a newly re-drawn congressional district that is no longer dominated by African Americans. The 82-year-old Rangel was locked in a race Tuesday for the nomination in his Harlem-area district with New York state Sen. Adriano Espaillat. Espaillat, a 57-year-old Dominican-American, showed growing popularity in a district that now has more Latino-Americans than African-Americans. (Photo by Spencer Platt/Getty Images)
Photo: Spencer Platt/2012 Getty Images
The almost invincible 21-term New York congressman has seen his 802-vote lead climb to an advantage of 945 over primary challenger Adriano Espaillat as absentee and affidavit ballots get tallied in the too-close-to-call race. The vote-counting festivities, set to resume Friday morning at ten, include dozens of people from each side standing around watching to make sure our democracy is still intact. So far, so good, guys.
