Darializa Avila Chevalier wins US House seat in New York
Mamdani-backed democratic socialist who unseated 10-term incumbent in primary now heads to Congress on platform of dismantling ICE and funding public housing
NEW YORK (MNTV) – Darializa Avila Chevalier, an Afro-Latina Muslim and democratic socialist who stunned New York’s political establishment by unseating veteran Rep. Adriano Espaillat in the Democratic primary, won election to the US House of Representatives in New York’s 13th Congressional District, the Associated Press projected.
The victory in the heavily Democratic district — covering Upper Manhattan and part of the Bronx — caps an improbable rise for the first-time candidate, a former investigator at the Neighborhood Defender Services of Harlem who also worked with the immigrant-rights group Families for Freedom. Her June primary win over Espaillat, a 10-year incumbent, was one of the biggest upsets of the cycle.
Backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the city’s Democratic Socialists of America, Chevalier ran on an unapologetically left platform: dismantling Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), fully funding Section 8 housing vouchers and public housing, Medicare for All, and refusing corporate political-action-committee money.
Her win was part of a broader night for the city’s progressive and Mamdani-aligned left. CBS News projected that Chevalier and fellow DSA-backed candidate Claire Valdez had won their New York races, while Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ritchie Torres held their Bronx-area congressional seats, according to local reporting.
As an Afro-Latina Muslim, Chevalier also adds to a historic cycle for Muslim American political representation; MNTV has identified at least 51 Muslim Americans on the ballot nationwide this year.
Her rise is notable, too, for a platform built around immigrant rights at a moment of aggressive federal enforcement — her district is home to large immigrant communities — and around challenging an entrenched Democratic establishment from the left. At 29, she becomes one of the youngest members of the incoming Congress.
This is a developing story and will be updated with official vote totals.
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