State Assembly Member Keith Wright on Thursday conceded the race for the 13th Congressional District, which includes Harlem, Upper Manhattan, and part of The Bronx.
The concession comes just two days after Adriano Espaillat claimed victory in the primary.
After the primary Tuesday night, Espaillat was ahead by more than 1,200 votes, but Wright did not concede the race, saying "This ain't over. Every vote's going to be counted."
"This is a very difficult decision on how to proceed," Wright campaign strategist Charlie King had said. "It’s a razor-thin race. He spent 13 months of his life working for this. And you want to make sure that every vote is counted."
But Wright met with Espaillat on Thursday at Sylvia's, the famed restaurant on Malcolm X Blvd.
At a news conference afterwards, Wright embraced Espaillat and threw his support behind the candidate.
"We've left it all on the battlefield, and certainly now it's time to come together" Wright said.
"This is a special moment to coalesce and bring together all the good will that we have to make sure our neighborhoods are lifted," Espaillat said.
In an impressive show of unity, elected officials from Manhattan and The Bronx were in Harlem behind the two men, including City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, Bronx Borough President Rubén Díaz, Jr., State Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie, and Charles Rangel, who had represented the district in Congress for over 40 years.
Rangel had backed Wright in the race, but he threw his full support behind Espaillat on Thursday.
Rangel also invited Espaillat to Washington, and said he harbored no ill will about power shifting from the traditional black power center in Harlem to the predominantly Hispanic Washington Heights.
"I don't know how the Italians felt when the Puerto Ricans came into East Harlem, or how the Irish and the German Jews felt when the Dominicans went into Washington Heights, or how the Jewish community felt when the Puerto Ricans went into The Bronx, or how the whites in Harlem felt when we came from Hell's Kitchen and moved up in Harlem," Rangel said at the press conference.
"But I do know one thing: that's what America is all about, that's what change is all about," he continued.
After a race marred by personal attacks in its final days, the bitterness appeared to be easing Wednesday, perhaps helped along by the Rev. Al Sharpton, who reached out to both camps in an effort to broker a peace.
"We need to have a climate of coming together, and not of acrimony and rancor that pits communities against communities inside the district," Sharpton had said.
While Sharpton did not endorse Wright or any other candidate in this race, he did speak out forcefully here last weekend after Espaillat supporters circulated a memo that made reference to suppressing the African-American vote.
"They think you are too dumb to stand up for yourself," Sharpton had said.
But with no evidence of any actual voter suppression tactics Tuesday, both Sharpton and Wright seemed to back off the issue.
"It was not Senator Espaillat who did it," King said. "There were outsiders who came in from Virginia and other places we don’t even know."
And Espaillat, rather than take a victory lap Wednesday, issued a conciliatory statement that read, in part, "Let's make sure that as we travel the short road ahead, we conduct ourselves with dignity and respect for the rights of all. I know — first-hand — how tough it is to come up short in a hard fought election. To those who voted for one of my worthy opponents — I pledge to work my heart out to represent you, knowing that our district is not a Latino or black or Asian district."
Wright's camp had noted that Espaillat took nearly two weeks to concede after his close 2012 primary loss to Rangel.
Wright said he'll honor his pledge not to seek reelection to his State Assembly seat this fall, instead backing current City Councilor Inez Dickens.
Espaillat is slated to face a Republican opponent in November, but he is widely expected to cruise to victory in the overwhelmingly Democratic district.