“The single issue of this election is one of effective representation — The only reason I run is to give Harlem effective representation.”
Charles Rangel, U.S. congressman from New York, speaking to the New York Times in 1970 announcing his run for Congress. Rangel — a New York assemblyman at the time — challenged famed Congressman Adam Clayton Powell Jr. in the Democratic Primary. Rangel won the primary on June 23, 1970, and the general election that November. He’s currently serving his 23rd term.
