The incumbent, Representative Charles B. Rangel, and his most prominent primary opponent, State Senator Adriano Espaillat, have been engaged in a duel of endorsements in recent weeks, inviting reporters to City Hall, Harlem and the Bronx to hear their newest pledges of support. Endorsements, analysts say, do not make much difference to voters, but the frequency of the announcements points to the peculiar dynamic in this race. Mr. Rangel, 81, who has been in Congress since 1971, is trying to signal to donors, the news media and the city’s political class that despite health issues and ethics concerns he is still going strong; Mr. Espaillat, in turn, is trying to show that Mr. Rangel has lost influential support. “For Adriano, his endorsements are meant to show that he is getting traction, he’s building momentum, and that he himself is able to snatch away support from Charlie,” said Basil A. Smikle Jr., a political consultant who is not working for either candidate. “For Charlie, it’s more of, ‘I still have support in this community, and the institutions that have been around, that people know, still support me.” The endorsements also serve to remind the news media and voters that this year’s primary for federal offices is unusually early in New York: June 26. Mr. Rangel and Mr. Espaillat are both Democrats, and they will face each other in the primary, along with several other candidates. The district, which runs from Harlem to the northwest Bronx, is overwhelmingly Democratic, so the winner of the primary is expected to go on to win the general election in November. John Gutierrez, an instructor in Latin American and Latino studies at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, described the endorsements as mostly “inside baseball” that would have little effect, unless they came with significant money and organizational support. But he suggested that, for Mr. Rangel, the stream of announcements might serve as a substitute for more laborious campaigning that, because of his age and serious back problems, is more challenging this year. “He’s not going to be at train stations, he’s not going to be visiting senior centers, he’s not going to be doing all of the retail politics that Adriano is, frankly, very, very good at,” Mr. Gutierrez said, adding, “Maybe for Charlie the endorsements sort of serve as an ‘in lieu of’ for campaigning.” Mr. Espaillat has gathered the endorsements of, among others, two former Bronx borough presidents, Fernando Ferrer and Adolfo Carrion, Jr.; Councilman G. Oliver Koppell of the Bronx; a former congressman, Herman Badillo; and a state senator, Gustavo Rivera of the Bronx. Mr. Rangel has been endorsed by the current Bronx borough president, Ruben Diaz, Jr.; a Bronx congressman, Jose E. Serrano; and several members of the State Senate, the Assembly and the New York City Council. On Wednesday, Mr. Rangel was endorsed by Adam Clayton Powell IV — an endorsement rich with symbolism, because Mr. Rangel had unseated Mr. Powell’s father, Adam Clayton Powell Jr., in 1970, and the younger Mr. Powell had himself run against Mr. Rangel twice. On Friday, Mr. Rangel is expected to be endorsed by Assemblyman Guillermo Linares of Manhattan, whose support is significant because he, like Mr. Espaillat, is Dominican-American. Conspicuously, some prominent officials who have endorsed Mr. Rangel in the past appear to be sitting this year’s race out. Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who taped campaign messages for Mr. Rangel two years ago, said recently that he had not yet made up his mind whether to get involved. And the White House spokesman, Jay Carney, when asked whether President Obama supported Representative Rangel, said “I’ll have to get back to you on that.” He did not. Asked on Wednesday about the significance of endorsements, Mr. Rangel recalled some of the endorsements that he had received in recent years, including some in 2010, when he was under scrutiny for ethical lapses. “In recent years, it has been a campaign that’s been endorsed by the mayor, the comptroller, the governors, and outstanding public officials from across the country,” he said. “The endorsement announcements have highlighted a significant different in resources between the campaigns. Wherever Mr. Rangel appears, a crowd of supporters materializes to hold signs and chant his name. When he announced the endorsement by Mr. Diaz, two dozen people stood behind him on courthouse steps, holding an arc of red, white and blue balloons. And when he was endorsed by Mr. Serrano, a group of men arrayed behind him on the City Hall steps responded defensively when a blogger asked an unwelcome question about Mr. Rangel’s house in the Dominican Republic. “Charlie Rangel is the man! Charlie Rangel is the man!” they began chanting, drowning out further questions. Mr. Espaillat, by contrast, is usually accompanied by only a few aides. A news conference in the Bronx on Monday to announce his endorsement by Councilman Koppell was so sparsely attended that it took place in a restaurant booth.
