The group, called the Campaign for Primary Accountability, has received most of its financing from a few businessmen with histories of donating to Republican causes, but it describes itself as nonpartisan and says its mission is to defeat longtime Congressional incumbents on the right and the left. The group’s spokesman, Curtis Ellis, said its aim was to counterbalance the advantages enjoyed by incumbents, which, he said, made them less answerable to their constituents. “We call ourselves ‘the equalizer,’ ” Mr. Ellis said. The group got involved in Mr. Rangel’s race because it believed that he was vulnerable and that Mr. Espaillat was “a real challenger,” Mr. Ellis said. “If you look at the support that Mr. Espaillat has been able to attract — that, combined with our own survey research — is what tells us that there is an opening here,” he said. Mr. Ellis did not specify how much the group planned to spend in the race, but he said it generally spent “in the six-figure range” in House races. He said the money would most likely be spent on direct mail, online advertising, voter outreach and targeted ethnic media buys. “Congressman Rangel, for all he has done, has become the model of what happens when incumbents get too comfortable with the special interests that operate in Washington,” Mr. Ellis said. The PAC’s decision to assist Mr. Espaillat was first reported by the State of Politics blog. A spokeswoman for Mr. Rangel’s campaign, Ronnie Sykes, said in a statement: “You can learn a lot about an elected official by who their enemies are. These conservatives know that the congressman is one of the most effective legislators in Congress and is a progressive champion.” Mr. Espaillat is the most prominent of several Democratic candidates hoping to defeat Mr. Rangel in a primary on June 26. Mr. Rangel, 81, has long been one of the most powerful black politicians in the country, but several factors — including an ethics scandal, a redrawn district that is now majority Latino and back problems that hospitalized him this year — have made the race appear competitive. Mr. Rangel returned to Washington on Monday for the first time in several months. He sat in the front row of the House as fellow Democrats greeted him with hugs and handshakes, and colleagues held a reception in his honor on Monday evening. Earlier in the day, President Obama’s spokesman, Jay Carney, appeared to hesitate when asked if the president was going to support Mr. Rangel’s re-election. “I’ll have to get back to you on that,” Mr. Carney said. In a radio interview on Tuesday, Mr. Espaillat was asked by Fredric U. Dicker, the state editor of The New York Post, about the changing demographics in the district and whether his campaign would emphasize ethnic themes. “It’s really a response to the needs of the constituents across the district — not just the Latinos, but, you know, African-Americans, you know, Asians, whites,” Mr. Espaillat responded, adding that everyone “really wants a change.” “When Charlie Rangel got elected back in 1970, the year before, man walked on the moon,” Mr. Espaillat, 57, said. “The Mets won a championship, the first championship; Joe Namath was throwing touchdown passes for the Jets; and Nixon was president. So that was a long time ago, and that district has really evolved into a new district, a very diverse district.”
