As primary nears, congressional race gets ugly

The bulk of voters in Kingsbridge, as well as voters in Van Cortlandt Village, Kingsbridge Heights and Marble Hill, can vote in one of the most closely watched Congressional races in the nation, Congressional District 13.

And unlike the less contentious Engel vs. Grimaldi race, this one is getting nasty.

Last week, Mr. Espaillat and Mr. Rangel traded barbs over state Senate petitions that circulated with Mr. Espaillat’s name on them.

After weeks of cordial politicking, with only a few softball attacks from various camps, the campaign took a turn for the ugly during a NY1 debate hosted by Errol Louis.

Mr. Espaillat currently serves in the state but had announced at a Ben Franklin Reform Democratic Club meeting on June 5 that he would not be circulating petitions to get on the state Senate ballot this time around because he was singularly focused on being elected to Congress. 

But before the debate, petitions for state Senate with Mr. Espaillat’s name on them had surfaced.

Because of a rare primary schedule this year, Mr. Espaillat could still run for his state Senate seat if he were to lose his Congressional bid but would only have 16 days to come up with the petitions.

So when his name showed up on a petition, along with Gabriela Rosa (who is running for the 72nd Assembly seat) and other candidates, it looked as if he had broken his promise.