Espaillat declares victory in district 13 primary

State Sen. Espaillat declared victory over eight opponents in the 13th congressional district Democratic primary tonight.

With about 97 percent of votes reported, unofficial results from the Board of Elections in the City of New York showed Mr. Espaillat 283 votes ahead of the next closest contender, Assemblyman Keith Wright.

 “The voters of the 13th congressional district made history tonight," Mr. Espaillat said in a victory speech, according to patch.com. "We will count every single vote, and we are confident that at the end of the night we will be up by over [1,000] votes."

An Espaillat victory would mark a blow to the legacy of outgoing Rep. Charles Rangel, who had endorsed Mr. Wright after 23 terms in the House of Representatives.

Unofficial results showed Clyde Williams, a former White House staffer in the Bill Clinton and Barack Obama administrations, coming in a distant third in his bid to represent Upper Manhattan and a swath of the Bronx.