Her win marks another rebuke of the Democratic establishment in New York following Zohran Mamdani\u2019s mayoral election last year, cementing the DSA as one of the city\u2019s most potent political forces. The upset reflects a political climate in which voters have become increasingly willing to cast aside longtime incumbents in favor of outsiders promising change.<\/p>\n

Avila Chevalier focused much of her campaign on attacking Espaillat for accepting donations from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and real estate interests during his career.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really feel that this is a fight to make sure that we are representing working-class New Yorkers who have been left behind by a politics that only serves the interests of corporations, of corporate landlords, of special interest groups that are making life in New York deeply unaffordable for so many,\u201d Avila Chevalier said last month<\/u><\/a>, during an appearance with Mamdani on MS NOW where the mayor endorsed her campaign.<\/p>\n

Espaillat, who is the first formerly undocumented person to serve in Congress, came up short despite having the support of House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Gov. Kathy Hochul, New York Attorney General Letitia James and New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin.<\/p>\n

Avila Chevalier, 32, was a leading organizer in the pro-Palestinian encampment at Columbia University in 2024 and is a sociology Ph.D. student at the CUNY Graduate Center. She has served as an investigator for a public defender\u2019s office and is originally from South Florida.<\/p>\n

For most of the race, Espaillat was widely viewed as the favorite, but Mamdani\u2019s late May endorsement of Avila Chevalier jolted a contest that began to show signs it was tightening. An April poll from Avila Chevalier\u2019s campaign<\/u><\/a> showed her down 14 points.<\/p>\n

Her victory came despite intense outside spending in support of Espaillat, including from the Congressional Hispanic Caucus\u2019 campaign arm<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n

Avila Chevalier\u2019s election to New York\u2019s 13th district also shows a changing of the guard in Upper Manhattan and parts of the Bronx. Espaillat has served at the helm of a political alliance, known as the \u201cSquadriano,\u201d that has ruled over those areas of the city, home to large Dominican American and African American populations.<\/p>\n

At times during the race, Espaillat and his supporters sought to frame the primary battle as a contest between gentrifiers and long-term residents.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose that choose or want to parachute in, after the men and women of this city, the working men and women of the city, have built our neighborhood, we’re gonna send them back home packing wherever they came from,\u201d the 71-year-old member of Congress said last month<\/u><\/a>.<\/p>\n

The story of his political ascendance and reign in Upper Manhattan has also been characterized by an intense rivalry with Manhattan Democratic Party Chair Keith Wright, an ally of the late Rep. Charles Rangel, whom Espaillat challenged for Congress in 2012 and 2014.<\/p>\n

But this year\u2019s primary seems to have calmed the bitter rivalry between Espaillat and Wright amid the encroachment of the Democratic Socialists of America on disputed turf. Earlier this month, Espaillat endorsed Wright\u2019s son<\/u><\/a> , state Assemblymember Jordan Wright, who was also facing a DSA-backed challenger.<\/p>\n

The peace pact wasn\u2019t enough to fend off the challenge from Avila Chevalier, who seized on a progressive swing in the district ever since Mamdani handily beat former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the mayoral primary there.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have come a long way from where we used to be as a party,\u201d Mamdani said in the interview where he announced his endorsement of Avila Chevalier. \u201cIt’s time we have a new generation that not only takes us back to that ambition, but takes us forward to the tomorrow that so many New Yorkers are waiting for.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"