Candidates for U.S. Congress - 15th District

Jessie A. Fields (R/I)

Despite Jessie A. Fields’ unsuccessful bid for the Manhattan Borough Presidency in the last election cycle, she has been endorsed by the Manhattan GOP over Conrad Muhammad. A founding member of New York’s Independence Party, Dr. Fields is a physician at St. Luke’s-Roosevelt Hospital and swears by sweeping health care and foreign policy reforms. She has called the Democratic Party the “political equivalent of your managed care company” for its political mismanagement of promises to deliver affordable health care to the city’s pCagroorest residents. During a radio discussion on New York’s Week in Review on KISS-FM, she called for Harlem’s emancipation from its long-time relationship with the Democratic Party and a non-partisan approach to social welfare problems. While acknowledging that defeating the incumbent Congressman Rangel is next to impossible, she believes her candidacy and visibility as a professional will challenge Rangel to rethink his approach to health care and listen more carefully to community concerns. Fields is an advocate of non-partisan elections and same-day voter registration in the hopes that such reforms will rescue the progressive tradition of community activism from the dangers of party politics.
Charles Rangel (D)
Running for his 17th consecutive term, Charles Rangel, who unseated the legendary Adam Clayton Powell from the seat in 1970, is currently the ranking Democrat on the House Ways and Means Committee and most recently was a principal advocate of the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone development project. While he has been criticized for not being a consistent presence in Harlem, Rangel believes that his long time in government will allow him to bring national attention and substantial government resources to the people of Upper Manhattan. Campaign & Elections lists Rangel’s seat as “Safe Democrat,” and he is widely considered the favorite in this primary race as well. Rangel’s long-term future, however, is less certain, as state Democrats believe that a proposed redrawing of federal district boundaries in New York state that would move Rangel’s district to areas south of Morningside Heights—into traditionally white neighborhoods in Midtown—will affect his future re-election chances. Therefore, during this year’s election cycle, Rangel will likely continue to speak about broader New York issues. He played a large role in last month’s decision to convene a special session of Congress in New York City to show support for the victims of the Sept. 11 attacks.
Conrad Muhammad (D)

As the lone Democrat opposing the incumbent Congressman Rangel for the Democratic nomination, Conrad Muhammad faces an uphill battle. Though not a registered Republican, Muhammad originally sought the Republican nomination and in the past year has been a highly visible advocate of other Republican candidates such as New York City’s Mayor Bloomberg and the incumbent Governor George Pataki but was rebuffed by the Manhattan GOP after concerns about comments he made during his years as a minister of the Nation of Islam (he has now re-embraced Baptism as his religion). He then collected the requisite number of Democratic signatures just before the filing deadline. Known as the “hip-hop minister” for his 20 years as an activist and public disputes with hip-hop recording industry giant Russell Simmons, his primary political achievement was the foundation of the Movement for Conscious Hip Hop Activism Necessary for Global Empowerment (CHHANGE) that focuses on registering young voters. Muhammad’s attacks on the recording industry’s marketing of the “thug” lifestyle to young blacks has put him at odds with other black leaders, such a Simmons and the Reverend Al Sharpton but has drawn him closer to conservatives around the country who see him as a GOP link to the black community. Like Fields, he believes that Harlem needs a fresh voice as an alternative to Rangel’s traditional party alignment.