Over the past year, several city politicians with Harlem roots have taken center stage in the New York media—some on the rise, and others struggling to stay afloat amid a string of controversies.
A few veteran local officials have endured perhaps the most difficult year of their careers.
New York Governor David Paterson, a Democrat who once represented Morningside Heights and West Harlem in the State Assembly, decided not to run for re-election after getting embroiled in a former aide’s domestic abuse scandal, seeing the state budget veer ever closer to collapse, and registering historically low approval numbers.
New York’s first African-American governor may have seen signs of the struggle ahead as early as September 2009, when President Barack Obama appeared to snub him during a visit to New York and media reports surfaced that White House emissaries had urged him to step aside in 2010.
At that point, dissatisfaction with Paterson’s job performance was already quite apparent.
“What the governor didn’t quite do is give a rationale why he should continue to be governor,” a union leader active in state politics told Spectator last September, speaking anonymously because of his close ties to the governor. “The rationale has to be what you do in office, what you want to do in times of economic distress. He’s a different person than he was as a state senator. We don’t know where he stands on basic benefits.”
Paterson remained steadfast in light of a growing budget crisis and ballooning unemployment rates. And despite plummeting approval ratings, even among loyal Democrats, the governor continued to raise campaign funds and vowed to stand for re-election.
But allegations that one of Paterson’s closest staffers, David Johnson, assaulted a Bronx woman—and that Paterson attempted to scare the victim into silence—eventually delivered the knockout blow. On Feb. 26, Paterson announced that he would not run for re-election. This makes him the second consecutive New York governor to serve only one term, after fellow Democrat Eliot Spitzer resigned in 2008. Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is seen as the favorite to replace Paterson on the Democratic ticket in November.
Paterson, though, was not the only Democratic officeholder with local roots to face controversies this year. Congressman Charles Rangel, who has represented northern Manhattan in Washington for nearly 40 years, departed from his post as chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee in early March. Rangel is accused of accepting a corporate-sponsored Caribbean vacation, failing to pay taxes on vacation properties, falsely disclosing his personal assets, and accepting a deal from a Manhattan developer on four rent-controlled apartments in Harlem. Under pressure from Democratic leaders fearing the political implications of these charges in an already difficult election year, Rangel stepped down from the committee.
Unlike Paterson, Rangel has remained committed to running for re-election in November. Challengers vying for the solidly Democratic Harlem-based seat include former Rangel aide Vince Morgan, SIPA ’06, and State Assembly member Adam Clayton Powell IV. If Rangel runs for a 21st term, some experts say he is favored to win, due in large part to his incumbency.
“There is a lot of uncertainty about what is going to happen,” said State Assembly member Daniel O’Donnell, who represents Morningside Heights, after Rangel resigned from the Ways and Means chairmanship. “I take him at his word that he will, in fact, run for re-election. It is my hope that he stays on the ballot.”
Columbia political science professor David Eisenbach added, “Rangel will win unless something more egregious comes out. An indictment or another serious allegation could change things.”
Still, Powell is challenging the very man who unseated his father four decades ago. Rangel originally replaced Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., Powell IV’s father.
Though some think that Rangel has a good shot at securing the seat he has held for so long, Powell IV said just before he officially announced his candidacy in April that he was confident: “Harlem has a legacy of longevity in politics. ... My father helped to create this seat.”
But Powell has also had a recent run-in with the law—he was found guilty in March of driving while impaired, a traffic violation less severe than driving while intoxicated, which left him with a temporary license suspension and a small fine.
And while Paterson’s and Rangel’s seats may be at stake, according to some speculation, they themselves might be putting the seat of another Harlem politician at risk as well—New York State Senator Bill Perkins, who announced his bid for re-election in April.
A slew of new candidates for Perkins’ seat recently entered the limelight amid speculation that Paterson and Rangel are actively seeking people to supplant Perkins, who represents West Harlem.
Paterson and Rangel may have reason to be at odds with Perkins, who broke ranks with many black leaders in February when he said that Paterson shouldn’t seek re-election in the wake of his alleged interference in his aide’s domestic violence case. This was especially stinging, some contend, because Perkins holds Paterson’s old State Senate seat. Others say he has likewise angered Rangel, after rumors swirled that he was considering a run for Rangel’s congressional seat.
Political consultant Rodney Capel, Parks Department Deputy Commissioner for Community Outreach Larry Scott Blackmon, and political strategist Basil Smikle were all mentioned as possible challengers. According to recent news reports, after the three conversed, they came to a consensus that Smikle would challenge Perkins.
But some experts say that Perkins will be able to hold his post. Hank Sheinkopf, a Democratic political consultant, said in a recent interview, “No one is going to beat him. It doesn’t matter what Paterson and Rangel want or don’t want. ... They can say whatever they want and it’s not going to affect Perkins.”
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