The Hill News

The New York Times is endorsing former Seagram executive Joyce Johnson in the Sept. 14 primary race for Rep. Charles Rangel's Harlem seat. The Times has been a vocal critic of the former Ways and Means chairman and has run several investigative pieces highlighting his ethics woes, including his use of rent-controlled housing in the city.

Rangel is running ahead of his five opponents in the primary, but a new Times poll on Friday found that 70 percent of Manhattan voters want him to end his congressional career (46 percent want him to serve out the end of his term and 24 percent think he should resign immediately). Rangel represents about 4! 0 percent of the burrough's residents.

In its endorsement, the Times points out that Rangel "is preparing for a House hearing on 13 ethics charges, including improper fund-raising and hoarding rent-stabilized apartments." The Times dismisses Assemblyman Adam Clayton Powell IV, the most famous Rangel challenger, as someone who has done little in Albany, even by Albany’s do-little standards."

Instead, the Times writes, the best alternative is Joyce Johnson "who, while struggling in the primary, has been a strong advocate for women’s rights and civil rights for many years."