It had been since 2018 that New York had not witnessed the surprising rise of a socialist candidate, that is, since the under-thirty Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez defeated the Democratic Party veteran, Joe Crowley, for a seat in the House. In between, there have been years in which the left wing of the Democrats, now in opposition in America, has strengthened, embracing the demands of that part of the electorate, especially young people, who can no longer cope with the prohibitive costs of living, especially in cities like New York. And it is no coincidence that it was in New York that the young socialist mayor Zohran Mamdani was elected, forcing the Democrats to reckon with that area of the party that does not identify with the moderate and centrist line.
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After Ocasio Cortez and Mamdani, in June New York therefore witnessed the victory of Darializa Avila Chevalier, a 32-year-old activist and doctoral student who defeated in a Latino showdown the more established Adriano Espaillat, a sitting congressman for almost 10 years in one of the poorest districts of the city, the 13th district, Upper Manhattan and Bronx. New York has thus been a laboratory of one of the most interesting political transformations of recent years (not forgetting, of course, the radical change of the Republicans with the advent of Donald Trump) and Darializa Avila Chevalier, who is in her first political competition, is the new face of this change. Like her predecessors, the Dominican-origin politician who often uses Spanish instead of English, shares youth and a family history of migration as well as affiliation with the American socialists (the DSA to which Ocasio Cortez has also recently rejoined). She also shares extreme positions on the war in the Palestinian Territories and on Israel.
The success of Avila Chevalier, raised by a single mother in economic hardship, inaugurated the summer of the socialist wave across the United States. The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) won the primaries not only in New York but also in Colorado and Michigan. Before them, another socialist candidate, Chris Rabb, had prevailed in May in Pennsylvania. The most recent surprise victory was in Florida, where Angie Nixon defeated a rival favored in the Democratic Senate primaries. Today Avila Chevalier is described by the Financial Times as “the face of the American socialist uprising,” as if to designate a new leader of the movement that is no longer confined to isolated yet charismatic figures like Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders. A few days ago, CNN called her the candidate who overturned the party establishment: “Avila Chevalier has become one of the most divisive — and potentially most influential — figures of a rebellion movement that has defeated several incumbent lawmakers and left the party at a crossroads.”
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Like other socialist figures, Avila Chevalier pushes strongly on the issue of immigration and insists on the abolition of ICE and the fight against all expulsions from the country. Before running for Congress, she collaborated with the organization Families for Freedom to try to block expulsions and spent three years attending hearings related to expulsion orders and interviewing people involved in these procedures, as part of her sociology doctorate at the City University of New York. In the past, she wrote quite controversial tweets against Kamala Harris and Joe Biden (whom she called a “rapist”), which continue to be held against her. Her participation in a controversial demonstration in support of the Palestinians, the day after the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, also sparked much debate.
Since then, Avila Chevalier has often appeared on Fox News, a target of President Donald Trump’s rallies and a source of concern for House Democrats, fearful of being painted by Republicans as socialists or communists. During her university years, she did a summer internship teaching English to Palestinians living in refugee camps in the West Bank. That experience helped shape the organizing activity that would characterize her adult life, as well as leading her to convert to Islam. Later, she also participated in protests against Israel’s war in Gaza at Columbia University.
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