Darializa Avila Chevalier is betting that New York voters are ready to turn on one of their own. The 32-year-old progressive is running hard against Rep. Adriano Espaillat, a five-term incumbent who made history as the first Dominican American and first formerly undocumented immigrant elected to Congress. She has the backing of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and is one of three progressive challengers he is pushing in competitive Democratic primaries this week.
The race for New York's 13th congressional district, which encompasses much of upper Manhattan and the Bronx, has become a proxy battle between the old guard and a new generation demanding change. Avila Chevalier argues the district, home to a large Afro-Latino population in historically significant neighborhoods like Harlem and Washington Heights, has only declined during Espaillat's tenure since 2017.
"You just have to look around our district and ask: have things gotten any better in the nine years that he's been in office?" Avila Chevalier said in an interview. She pointed to demographic shifts, noting an exodus of over 200,000 Black New Yorkers from the city over the last two decades. "He has been in office in some capacity for 30 years, and it's time for a change."
Espaillat pushed back during a WNYC candidate forum, questioning Avila Chevalier's experience. "Getting results in Congress is not a PhD program," he said, referencing her ongoing doctoral work at the City University of New York. She is currently employed as a public defense investigator while pursuing her degree.
Avila Chevalier's campaign carries the imprint of progressive organizing. She served as the organizing lead for Mamdani's mayoral campaign in her district region, where he won decisively. As a Columbia University student, she organized against sexual violence on campus and worked with justice-focused groups on issues ranging from mass incarceration to immigration. She is a union member with the United Auto Workers and has been endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America and Justice Democrats, the group that helped elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to Congress.
Her policy agenda targets the Democratic establishment directly. She calls for universal healthcare, stronger renter protections, abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, banning Super PACs and corporate donations in elections, and prohibiting congressional stock trading. She has also criticized Espaillat as beholden to wealthy donors, including the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, though she frames opposition to establishment politics as the core issue.
The economic conditions in the district underpin her argument for change. Poverty levels in New York City hit 26 percent in 2024, according to data from Robin Hood and Columbia University. In the 13th district specifically, about 35 percent of children live in poverty. Avila Chevalier has positioned her campaign as one that will invest resources directly back into schools, housing, and social programs rather than perpetuate failed approaches.
"I think it's time that we have a politics that actually invests in life, not just as rhetoric," she said. "We put our money where our mouth is, our budget reflects those values, and our resources come back to our communities."
Polling shows the race tightening. An internal poll from Avila Chevalier's campaign in March showed Espaillat ahead 42 percent to 28 percent. A more recent survey in early June by Data for Progress found Avila Chevalier leading 39 percent to 35 percent, suggesting momentum is moving her direction ahead of Tuesday's primary.
Mamdani has amplified the challenge to Espaillat by endorsing not just Avila Chevalier but also two other progressive candidates running in city congressional primaries. On Thursday, Mamdani and U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders held a rally for all three of his endorsed candidates. The show of force signals that the establishment wing of New York politics is facing a real generational shift.
Author James Rodriguez: "This race is less about one challenger and more about whether the Democratic base in deep-blue Manhattan and the Bronx has finally lost patience with incremental governance."
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