RACE OF THE DAY – N.Y. 15

Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) will be the first test of Republicans’ attempts to target Democrats on ethics issues this cycle.

With two prominent, senior Democratic lawmakers facing ethics charges, Republicans have been reminding voters of Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) vow to hold one of the most ethical Congresses in history.

The ethics committee charged Rangel with 13 counts this summer. And Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) is accused of using her position to help a bank in which her husband owns stock win millions of dollars in bailout funds.

Both lawmakers are fighting the charges. Waters had already been through California’s primary, but Rangel faces voters – and a tough Democratic primary challenger – on Tuesday.

Neither lawmaker is expected to face a public ethics trial until after the November general election.

Rangel told The Hill Monday that if he were a first-term lawmaker, his career could be over.

“There are so many members they can destroy by just doing nothing,” the 20-term lawmaker said of the ethics committee. “If I was a first-termer, it’s all over.”

Democrats had urged Rangel to cut a deal in order to avoid any electoral fallout.

Former Rep. Harold Ford (D-Tenn.) said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” in August that Rangel has the right to defend himself but Democrats should not ignore the fact that “this certainly has a political impact.”

“I think it contributes to the narrative that people, or the thinking people have about Washington, that it’s just not working,” Ford said.

Instead Rangel offered a vigorous defense.

He spent Monday campaigning at various stops throughout his district and said the message from his constituents is clear: “Don’t give up, don’t give in, fight those bastards.”

— Shane D’Aprile contributed to this post.