{"id":17751,"date":"2026-01-15T10:01:50","date_gmt":"2026-01-15T10:01:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/congressional-black-caucus-endorses-former-rival-rep-adriano-espaillat-over-black-primary-challenger\/"},"modified":"2026-01-15T10:01:50","modified_gmt":"2026-01-15T10:01:50","slug":"congressional-black-caucus-endorses-former-rival-rep-adriano-espaillat-over-black-primary-challenger","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/congressional-black-caucus-endorses-former-rival-rep-adriano-espaillat-over-black-primary-challenger\/","title":{"rendered":"Congressional Black Caucus endorses former rival Rep. Adriano Espaillat over Black primary challenger"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

NEW YORK \u2014 The Congressional Black Caucus\u2019 political arm is endorsing Rep. Adriano Espaillat over a democratic socialist, Afro-Latina primary challenger \u2014 about a decade after the group rejected Espaillat\u2019s efforts to join its ranks.<\/p>\n

Espaillat, who represents Upper Manhattan and parts of the Bronx, is facing a primary challenge from Darializa Avila Chevalier<\/a>, a 32-year-old pro-Palestine organizer who led Columbia University\u2019s protest encampment in 2024. Her candidacy is part of a wave of left-leaning primary challenges<\/a> against pro-Israel incumbents in New York and beyond.<\/p>\n

Espaillat\u2019s rocky history with the Congressional Black Caucus predates his election to Congress. He rankled members of the group<\/a> in 2012 and 2014 when he waged unsuccessful efforts to unseat Rep. Charles Rangel, a founding member of the CBC.<\/p>\n

When Rangel retired, Espaillat ran for the seat a third time and again found himself at odds with the caucus, which endorsed then-state Assemblymember Keith Wright, Rangel\u2019s handpicked successor. Wright, currently the leader of the Manhattan Democratic Party, lost to Espaillat, and the two now helm warring political factions in New York politics.<\/p>\n

Once in Congress, Espaillat attempted in 2017 to join the CBC while simultaneously serving in the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, a group he now leads as its chair. He has identified as a Latino of African descent on the campaign trail, but his request was denied.<\/p>\n

Former CBC Chair Karen Bass told POLITICO in 2020<\/a> \u201cthere was a specific situation that was more important than [Espaillat\u2019s] ethnic background\u201d that prevented him from joining the caucus. \u201cIt was a specific conflict, and I\u2019m not going to talk about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Espaillat said he was still trying<\/a> to join the group in 2022. Now, the organization is backing him for the first time as he faces a challenge from Avila Chevalier, who holds endorsements from the city\u2019s DSA chapter and the Justice Democrats.<\/p>\n

\u201cCongressman Adriano Espaillat reflects the kind of leadership that our caucus and its members have long championed,\u201d said Rep. Gregory Meeks, chair of the CBC\u2019s PAC, in a statement. \u201cAt a time when working families are being priced out of neighborhoods they\u2019ve called home for generations, Adriano has been on the front lines of the fight to make New York City more affordable. That commitment is rooted in lived experience, moral clarity, and a deep commitment to economic justice and civil rights.\u201d<\/p>\n

In its announcement \u2014 shared first with Blue Light News \u2014 the CBC\u2019s PAC said its decision to back Espaillat was rooted in his alignment with its core values and touted his work to fund affordable housing and advocate against President Donald Trump\u2019s immigration enforcement tactics.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am deeply honored to receive the endorsement of the Congressional Black Caucus PAC,\u201d Espaillat said in a statement. \u201cThe CBC has long stood at the forefront of the fight for economic opportunity and social justice for Black and other marginalized communities. As the first formerly undocumented person to serve in Congress, this endorsement carries special meaning for me.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NEW YORK \u2014 The Congressional Black Caucus\u2019 political arm is endorsing Rep. Adriano Espaillat over a democratic socialist, Afro-Latina primary challenger \u2014 about a decade after the group rejected Espaillat\u2019s efforts to join its ranks. Espaillat, who represents Upper Manhattan and parts of the Bronx, is facing a primary challenge from Darializa Avila Chevalier, a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17751","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-congress"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17751","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17751"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17751\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17751"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17751"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bluelightnews.com\/category\/politics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17751"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}