In a monumental primary election upset this week in New York, Democratic voters have ousted U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat, a nine-year incumbent, and chosen the upstart socialist Darializa Avila Chevalier as their pick for the November general election.
The Afro-Latina activist and Harlemite, 32, won on Tuesday with just under 49% of the vote, clearing her 71-year-old opponent by nearly three-and-a-half percentage points. It was—to say the least—a remarkable result for the City University of New York doctoral student, who has never before held public office and is set to become likely the most progressive American congressperson in recent history.
There aren’t words to describe this moment but there are policies to uphold. WE WON!! pic.twitter.com/qLwipb7Cqo
— Darializa for Congress (@DarializaforNY) June 24, 2026
Buoyed by a high-powered endorsement from Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a fellow member of the Democratic Socialists of America, Chevalier saw strong returns throughout the 13th congressional district, building an early lead and never looking back.
“We make it clear that the politics of the past ends today,” said Avila Chevalier in a victory speech at the Sofrito restaurant in West Harlem.
“What we have built over the last eight months, and what we have delivered here today, is a clear mandate that the era of taking a check and cashing a check and calling it representation is over.”
Espaillat, a Catholic who is the first formerly undocumented immigrant in Congress, has served since 2024 as the first Black chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Despite his national profile and high-profile establishment endorsements, he faced various headwinds during his re-election campaign. In her public messaging, Avila Chevalier criticized him on issues of affordability, the federal budget (including recent votes for omnibus bills including ICE funding), and foreign policy.
Notably, she emphasized that he was one of numerous Democratic incumbents who have received substantial campaign funding from the Israel lobby—with Espaillat reportedly accepting more than $3.2 million over the past decade. In Washington, he has consistently voted in support of the apartheid Middle Eastern state, which is currently engaged in three wars and various human rights abuses, including a genocide.
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Late in his campaign, he faced criticism for his supporters’ disinformation about Avila Chevalier's ethnicity. Though both candidates are Afro-Latinx and Dominican American, her left-wing stances led to many DR- and Espaillat-connected Democrats referring to her as “Haitian” in an attempt to denigrate both her race and her policies. The claim is connected to longstanding anti-Haitian sentiments among Dominicans both abroad and in the diaspora.
One prominent Dominican American, Espaillat’s senior adviser Rusking Pimentel, even publicly supported conspiracy theories that Avila Chevalier intended to shift the heavily Latino 13th district in a more Haitian and Muslim direction. (Raised in a largely Catholic extended family, Avila Chevalier converted to Islam in 2018.)
“We saw just how low they were willing to go just because they knew that they couldn't beat us if they fought fair,” Avila Chevalier told her supporters after her win.
“So, they attacked me. Why? Because I am a proud Afro-Latina Dominican. Because I believe in the freedom and dignity of all people, including our Haitian neighbors.”
Avila Chevalier’s win was the most prominent among New York’s congressional primary races, including a full slate of Mamdani endorsees winning surefire Democratic seats in the U.S. House of Representatives.
One of those candidates, DSA-backed state assemblywoman Claire Valdez, defeated retiring U.S. Rep Nydia Velázquez’s hand-picked successor for the 7th district, Brooklyn Borough president Antonio Reynoso—a Black Catholic—in a landslide. A similar result was seen with city comptroller Brad Lander’s commanding win over incumbent U.S. Rep. Dan Goldman in the 10th district.
U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres, a Black Catholic-raised, pro-Israel centrist who represents the 15th district, easily won his primary over progressive challenger Michael Blake, who failed to mount a serious challenge and lacked major endorsements from sitting politicians.
He will join the other Democrats on the ballot this fall, when the general election will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 3. Voters will be able to register until Saturday, Oct. 24, the same day early voting begins.
Nate Tinner-Williams is co-founder and editor of Black Catholic Messenger.
