Three days into his campaign against Rep. Charlie Rangel, and Vince Morgan, the bank executive-turned-first-timecandidate, cannot help but pounce on potential donors.

“Please e-mail me,” Morgan pleaded a fashionably dressed older woman with a red-and-black polka dot scarf around her neck, who had just moved to the neighborhood from the Upper West Side. “I want to have that coffee with you, with your husband and my wife.”

The woman declined an invitation to an upcoming event Morgan was planning, citing tickets to a classical music concert at Bard College, but seemed glad Morgan was throwing his hat into the ring.

“I definitely think [Rangel] needs the competition,” she said.

Her words were good news to Morgan, who is in a race against a 40-year incumbent who also happens to be one of the most powerful Democrats in Washington.

“I got to hit ‘em all up,” Morgan said, after the woman left.

So far, Morgan is the only one to officially announce his candidacy against Rangel, but others are mulling their own runs as well. Assembly Member Adam Clayton Powell IV said he plans on opening an exploratory committee in the coming weeks. Rumors are circulating that State Sen. Bill Perkins is considering his own run. Even Gov. David Paterson’s name has been thrown into the mix as people look for a graceful exit strategy for both him and the man he would replace.

The ongoing investigation into Rangel’s personal finances have taken a toll on the congressman in Washington, where he recently fended off a Republican-led effort to remove him from his powerful Ways and Means chairmanship.

But despite Rangel’s ethical woes, Morgan is likely to face an uphill battle. In 1994, Powell, then a member of the City Council, got only 33 percent of the vote against Rangel, who traditionally has gotten Castro level electoral victories.

Morgan’s best bet, presumably, would be if Rangel drops out just before next year’s primary, leaving him alone in the field. Otherwise, he must hope for a host of better known Harlem pols who have long hoped to succeed Rangel to get impatient and jump in and somehow split the vote enough for him to slip past them all.

For now, many of the district’s elected officials say they do not know what to make of Morgan’s candidacy.

“I think he’s not a serious candidate,” said Assembly Member Adriano Espaillat, who has been mentioned as a potential successor to Rangel if, as many anticipate, the next redistricting increases the chances of a Latino candidate being elected to the seat. “I don’t think he’s a known leader in the community and I don’t know what he stands for.”

Despite facing local backlash like that, Morgan says he does not want to play the kind of political game that gives preference for being a loyal soldier for decades.

“I don’t want to be a part of system that rewards your number in line,” he said. “There shouldn’t even be a line.”

Morgan acknowledges he could have had a much easier time running for City Council or even a district leader position rather than Congress. He argues, however, that whomever eventually replaces Rangel will lack seniority, rank and influence. Which Morgan says suits him fine.

“People forget the House of Representatives is the entrylevel federal position,” Morgan said. “You start out on the bottom.”

Morgan is already honing his message for jumping to the front of that line: that he greatly admires Rangel, but believes the congressman’s advancing age and escalating ethical troubles has signaled the time for a change.

“The catalyst for my deciding to run for office was really the opportunity to ask the question, ‘What comes after Rangel?’” Morgan said.

A native of the south side of Chicago (“the Harlem of Chicago,” he jokes), Morgan dropped out of high school at 16. After getting his GED, he went on to graduate from Howard University. After a brief detour in South Africa, where he witnessed Nelson Mandela’s return to power, Morgan moved to New York to take a job at an Internet company. He was downsized after the bubble burst, which led him, in 2002, to accept a volunteer position on Rangel’s staff. There he learned the ins-and-outs of campaigning, as well as the importance of petition gathering.

“That year, [Rangel] had a primary challenger that was not able to make it on the ballot because of my work,” Morgan said slyly. “I will be very cautious about the signatures we have to collect to get on the ballot.”

For now, Morgan says he is consumed with all the details of getting his novice campaign off the ground. And while the shadow of Rangel’s ethical predicament looms large over the race, Morgan says he is aware of how beloved the congressman is in the district, leaving him in the precarious place of not knowing how far he can go in criticizing Rangel.

“I believe he’s a good man,” Morgan said.

He paused, carefully considering his next words.

“I will say this: I’m disappointed he’s even in this situation,” he said. “You can write that. I’m disappointed.”

ahawkins@cityhallnews.com