Incumbent Congressmember Adriano Espaillat, in a fight to keep his seat in New York’s 13th Congressional district race, recently got a boost in the form of an endorsement by the Congressional Black Caucus Political Action Committee.
Espaillat, 71, is the first Dominican-American to serve in Congress. He was first elected in 2016 and currently chairs the Congressional Hispanic Caucus (CHC). His district encompasses East Harlem, Hamilton Heights, Washington Heights, Inwood, Marble Hill, and parts of Harlem and the north-west Bronx.
“I feel really good. The Congressional Black Caucus, they call it the conscience of the House of Representatives,” said Espaillat. “And as chair of the CHC, we have been doing a lot of work with the tricaucus — which is the Asian and Asian Pacific Caucus, Black Caucus, and Hispanic Caucus. We’ve been doing a lot of work together. It’s a real honor and a privilege to get their endorsement.”
Espaillat has been working overtime with his colleagues, collaborating with other caucus members to highlight the injustices of President Donald Trump’s deportation agenda. On Jan. 16, he testified that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) should be immediately “dismantled” and retrained to prohibit deadly force at a congressional hearing in Minneapolis after the shooting of Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother and wife who was killed by an ICE agent who approached her car.
“ICE is an aggressive, violent weapon. It has turned [out] to be a deadly weapon,” said Espaillat in the hearing.
Espaillat hasn’t had a competitive race in his district for a decade, but with the 2026 congressional primaries several months away, many candidates are looking to challenge entrenched Democrats like him and capitalize on voter discontent with career politicians. He’s being challenged by eight political hopefuls at the moment, including Oscar Romero, Jaliel Amador, Theo Bruce Chino-Tavarez, former congressional staffer Megan C. Rodriguez, newcomer from East Harlem Darializa Avila Chevalier, and LGBTQ activist James Felton Keith. His challengers have diverse backgrounds and ethnicities, but Espaillat wasn’t surprised to be chosen by the CBC over a Black candidate.
“I’m Afro Latino, and there [are] several African American candidates and Afro Latino candidates in the race, and so I’m sure they looked at the record and they’re convinced that I could continue to represent the district in a strong way,” said Espaillat. “I think that for endorsements, everybody has to go up and make their case and present their accomplishments.”
Espaillat has long-standing relationships with New York members of the CBC.
“Congressman Adriano Espaillat reflects the kind of leadership that our caucus and its members have long championed,” said Congressmember Gregory Meeks, who chairs the CBC PAC, in a statement. “At a time when working families are being priced out of neighborhoods they’ve called home for generations, Adriano has been on the front lines of the fight to make New York City more affordable.
“That commitment is rooted in lived experience, moral clarity, and a deep commitment to economic justice and civil rights,” Meeks continued. “From standing up to the administration’s draconian immigration enforcement policies to delivering tangible investments that create jobs and strengthen communities, Adriano has been and will continue to be a powerful and effective advocate for those too often left behind.”
However, in the past, Espaillat has had a rocky history with members of the CBC, in particular the late Congressmember Charles Rangel and his would-be successor, Manhattan Democratic Party boss Keith Wright. Espaillat ran against Rangel unsuccessfully twice, once in 2012 and again in 2014. On his third time running in 2016, Espaillat finally bested Wright, his Harlem rival, to take over Rangel’s seat upon his retirement. The CBC had endorsed Wright then.
“I got to develop a strong working relationship with these groups, including Congressman Rangel before he passed. We became really good friends,” said Espaillat.