Democratic New York State Sen. Adriano Espaillat has officially ended his fight to replace Rep. Charles Rangel in New York's 13th Congressional District and will drop his lawsuit challenging the longtime incumbent's victory, NY1 reports. Espaillat told reporters on Monday that he's now ready to support Rangel:
"I look forward to working with him as we move forward in the 13th Congressional District to ensure that the issues that are pertinent to every resident — from the southern part of the district to the northern part of the district and now parts of the Bronx are addressed and taken care of," Espaillat said.
"Certification is an issue that still has to happen and it should happen by Monday. I hope that from now until then our combined forces can start talking with each other for the good of the community," Rangel said.
Espaillat did not immediately announce plans to run for re-election for his State Senate seat.
The deadline for filing petitions in that race is Thursday.
The concession comes after the City Board of Elections announced that it had found more than two dozen extra votes.
The additional 28 ballots were not counted last week, when board officials painstakingly finished their hand-count of ballots.
Read more at NY1.