Among Rangel's five opponents in the Democratic primary, only one is a sitting elected official: Assemblyman Adam Clayton Powell IV.

Along with the benefits of having a staff and demonstrated electability in a part of the district, being a current office holder comes with one notable drawback: attendance records.

According to LoHud, which has a way of searching this sort of thing, Powell has a 32 percent rate of absence.

That, according to LoHud's search database, puts Powell in the top five for the 150-member chamber.

It also undercuts the argument Powell, and others, have made about needing a younger congressman to pick up the slack for the 80-year-old Rangel.

Powell's campaign spokesman told me the Assemblyman had a better attendance record before he started actively campaigning for congress, and said the spike in absences is common for sitting officials running for higher office. The spokesman, rightly, points out that the issue was written about last month in the New York Post.