U.S. Rep Charles Rangel declares his victory in Harlem

U. S. Rep Charles Rangel, the 84-year-old “Lion on Harlem,” claimed his victory on the final primary night of the Democratic primary.

Rangel was the face of Harlem politics for more than 40 years. "This was your victory," Rangel told the crowd, according to the Associated Press. "This is your congressman. And you can rest assured all I will be doing is thinking about you and bringing resources back home."

Rangel declared victory late on Tuesday night, according to the The Washington Post. The politician said that he wanted to “sweat it out” in a Harlem ballroom. His opponent in the Democratic primary was state Sen. Adriano Espaillat.

With 99 percent of the vote, Rangel was leading Espaillat 47.4 percent, a difference of less than 2,000 votes. About 47,000 votes were counted on Tuesday.

The Associated Press is calling the race “too close to call” as of Wednesday at 6AM. In the balance are the absentee and affidavit ballots. The Board said that additional information on those ballots would be immediately released.