Gustavo backs Adriano

State Sen. Adriano Espaillat has a friend in the Bronx.

Last week, state Sen. Gustavo Rivera announced he was supporting Mr. Espaillat in his bid to unseat Rep. Charlie Rangel in New York’s 13th Congressional District.

The endorsement comes as no surprise, as Mr. Rivera, the freshman senator who dethroned Pedro Espada Jr. a couple of years back, is good friends with Mr. Espaillat.

He is also Mr. Ethics Reform. During his own campaign against Mr. Espada, he called for greater transparency into elected officials’ personal finances and his first bill once elected was one that called for just that. 

Mr. Rangel was censured by the House in 2010 for ethics violations related to using his position in Congress to line his pockets. Mr. Rangel has denied any wrongdoing and was reelected during the ethics investigation.

The new district also includes areas of the Bronx that match up with Mr. Rivera’s turf. Mr. Rivera represents every Bronx neighborhood in the newly-drawn Congressional District 13, which used to only include Manhattan, so his endorsement is significant.

Mr. Rivera said he plans to knock on doors with Mr. Espaillat in the Bronx to get the word out.

“I am proud to endorse Adriano for Congress because he will bring the same passion and energy to Congress and deliver the change we need in Washington D.C. I look forward to campaigning for Adriano, particularly in the Bronx, to get him elected as our next Congressman,” Mr. Rivera said in a statement.

Though Mr. Rivera’s endorsement is not a shocker, he is the first elected official from the Bronx to back Mr. Espaillat. The new congressional district is roughly one-quarter Bronx and three-quarters Manhattan and includes the Bronx neighborhoods of Kingsbridge, Kingsbridge Heights, Norwood, Van Cortlandt Village and Bedford Park.

Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr. and Assemblyman Jose Rivera are backing Mr. Rangel. Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz is waiting on the Ben Franklin Reform Democratic Club, which will not make endorsements until late May.