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
Representative Charlie Rangel’s complicated lead over Democratic primary challenger Adriano Espaillat has gotten even smaller: As of late Saturday night, the Board of Elections said they’d counted a total of 18,075 votes for Rangel and 17,273 for Espaillat. Officials still have at least 3,000 absentee and affidavit ballots to wade through.
