Adriano Espaillat vying to be the first Dominican-born congressman

Democratic state Sen. Adriano Espaillat is hoping to become the first Dominican-born member of Congress. But he faces a tough battle to win the Democratic primary race on Tuesday for New York’s 13th Congressional District currently occupied by 22-term Rep. Charles Rangel.

For years, Rangel’s district covered much of Harlem and was predominantly black. But after the 2010 Census, the district was redrawn to include parts of the Bronx. As a result, the district shifted from being majority black to now becoming majority Hispanic. The district also covers the heavily Dominican neighborhood of Washington Heights.

This is widely believed to be a tough re-election bid for Rangel, who is 84 years old and holds decades of experience in Washington. It is also the second time that he is challenged by Espaillat. The Dominican-born state senator went up against Rangel, who is half black and half Puerto Rican, in 2012 and lost by fewer than 1,100 votes.

Espaillat is hoping the results will be in his favor this time around.

SEE ALSO: Adriano Espaillat could become the first Dominican in Congress

But a NY1/Siena College poll released last week shows Espaillat is trailing behind Rangel by 13 points. According to the poll, 47 percent of likely primary voters support Rangel, compared to 34 percent who back Espaillat.

The poll also shows many likely voters are still not very familiar with Espaillat, despite this being the second time he runs for Rangel’s seat.

“While Espaillat has a 42-25 percent favorability rating, he remains unknown to nearly a third of likely voters,” Siena College pollster Steven Greenberg said in a statement accompanying the poll results. “And unfortunately for Espaillat, while voters’ familiarity with him has increased, most of that increase has been on the unfavorable side.”

What’s more, Rangel has picked up the endorsement of several prominent Latinos, including Reps. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.) and Jose Serrano (D-N.Y.). Rangel has also received much support from black voters in Harlem, where he was born and is seen as an icon.

Still, Espaillat remains confident.

“We will prevail,” Espaillat said when asked about the NY1/Siena College poll, according to Al Jazeera. “We’ve touched 20,000 doors that have said ‘Yes to Espaillat,’ and I’m very confident.”

A win for Espaillat would be a significant victory for Dominican Americans, who are the fifth-largest population of Hispanic origin living in the United States. In 2011, an estimated 1.5 million Hispanics of Dominican origin lived in the U.S., and Dominicans accounted for 2.9 percent of the U.S. Hispanic population, according to a report by the Pew Research Center.

SEE ALSO: New group mobilizes Dominican Americans to register and vote