This New York Race Is a Microcosm of Democrats’ Identity Fight

NEW YORK — Darializa Avila Chevalier can change what it means to be a Democrat in a Democratic stronghold.

At least that’s the democratic socialist’s view of her insurgent congressional campaign against an established New York power broker. The candidate, who was recruited to run by Justice Democrats, volunteered for New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s campaign when he was polling at just 1% in last year’s race. Now that he’s one of the highest-profile elected officials of the progressive left, she’s hoping to be his teammate from a perch in Congress — specifically, incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat’s seat.

Both candidates in the congressional race are generally thought of as progressives, but the race has become a contest between young and old, upstart versus establishment, ideas versus experience.

In other words, it’s a microcosm of the broader fight for the Democratic Party’s identity and sparking a debate about what the Democratic brand should look like in its most progressive districts.

“Folks here are very hungry for a different type of politics, and we proved last year that we can do it,” Avila Chevalier told NOTUS, referring to Mamdani’s win. “Now we’re ready to prove that it wasn’t a fluke. We’re ready to prove that this is something that we want and this is what’s here to stay, and to show that, in a federal race, has national implications.”

Darializa Avila Chevalier speaks to voters on the first day of early voting in Manhattan. Manuela Silva/NOTUS

As she walked back to her Harlem campaign headquarters after canvassing on the first day of early voting, Avila Chevalier said voters in the deep-blue district she’s running in expect their representative to be pugnacious enough to meet the moment.

“Yes, it really matters that we’re sending Democrats to office and to Congress, but it matters what kind of Democrats we’re sending,” Avila Chevalier said.

On Tuesday, those voters will choose between Avila Chevalier and Espaillat, in what limited polling suggests is a close race. It’s one of a handful of closely watched New York City congressional primaries.

Espaillat’s campaign message is that his years of work as an elected official makes him the type of leader that Democrats need to implement their policy agenda if they reclaim the majority. Avila Chevalier is making the case that as the Democratic Party builds toward its vision of the future, it has to back its most progressive candidates, especially in its bluest districts.

With Democrats feeling like a majority in the House of Representatives is within reach, Espaillat said his longtime experience as a legislator in Washington and his perspective as the only formerly undocumented member of Congress are precisely why he should have a “seat at the table.”

Espaillat, right, at a press conference last year across the street from 26 Federal Plaza in lower Manhattan, which has been a frequent target in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. Heather Khalifa/AP

He pushes back on the suggestion that he’s an establishment candidate, pointing to his history as the first Dominican-American member of Congress, as well as his diverse coalition of supporters.

“That’s a new voice, someone that has sort of gone against the grain with the support of the community as they kick down the door to have a seat at the table,” Espaillat said of himself.

Espaillat is the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, which has spearheaded much of Hill Democrats’ pushback to President Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda. As a member of the House Appropriations committee, Espaillat says his experience balancing a budget makes him a key player if Democrats are to make good on their promises if they reclaim the House.

“As an appropriator, I know budget and legislation,” Espaillat told NOTUS. “You’ve got to know legislation, also somebody that knows public policy that ensures that we implement good public policy.”

“I’ve fought in the legislature and I fought in the courts and won and beat Donald Trump,” he continued, pointing to a lawsuit he filed with 11 other members of Congress against the Trump administration for barring them from inspecting ICE facilities. “That’s the kind of experience that you need.”

Espaillat has not faced serious competition since he was first elected in 2016, when he knocked out Rep. Charlie Rangel’s chosen successor, New York Democratic powerhouse Keith Wright, by less than 3 percentage points. Espaillat did not face a primary challenger at all in 2024, and in 2022, he won almost 80% of the vote in the Democratic primary.

But Mamdani managed to inspire a major turnout in that part of the city, which Usamah Andrabi, the communications director for Justice Democrats, said was a factor in making it a target district for the organization.

Since Avila Chevalier, who is also Dominican-American, launched her campaign last summer, she has repeatedly criticized Espaillat for accepting of donations from the pro-Israel lobby and his votes in favor of continued U.S. military support of Israel. At a recent debate, Espaillat addressed his acceptance of AIPAC money, stating that “no one” tells him how to vote other than his constituents.

“Folks here are very hungry for a different type of politics, and we proved last year that we can do it,” Avila Chevalier said, referring to Mamdani’s win. Manuela Silva/NOTUS

Espaillat’s supporters have made an issue of Avila Chevalier’s attendance at a pro-Palestine rally in Times Square one day after the Oct. 7 attacks on Israel, as well as her now-deleted social media posts calling for abolishing the police and posts attacking several mainstream Democrats, including former Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Joe Biden. She has since said that she “deeply regrets” her statements.

Many Avila Chevalier supporters see her as a continuation of the effort started by Mamdani’s campaign last summer. Adriana Barrios, a previous volunteer for the Mamdani campaign and now a canvassing lead for Avila Chevalier’s campaign, said some of Avila Chevalier’s supporters recognize the candidate as a community organizer and from her efforts on behalf of Mamdani.

That, she says, is a record she’s excited by.

“I volunteered for Zohran because I was really excited to see a new kind of politics,” Barrios told NOTUS at a canvassing event in Thomas Jefferson Park featuring Mamdani. “As someone who was previously a really disaffected voter, I was incredibly thrilled to be able to vote someone into office who I felt represented me, and I see this as a continuation of that.”

But many Democrats, in particular members of the national party, have largely stuck with Espaillat.

Espaillat is the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, which has spearheaded much of Hill Democrats’ pushback to President Trump’s mass deportation agenda. Aaron Schwartz/Sipa USA via AP

Espaillat has received the endorsements of a slew of local and national elected officials, including House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and the Congressional Black Caucus. He’s also got a coalition of New York City officials backing him who say their familiarity with the lawmaker and the working relationships they’ve built are key to their support.

“I want to be able to pick up my phone and say, ‘OK, this person has an immigration issue,’ and there are some basic things that I can do that are in my tool belt, or I can reach out to Gillibrand’s office, I can reach out to Schumer’s office, but Adriano’s office is closer to all of us,” Al Taylor, the assemblymember for New York’s 71st District, told NOTUS as he handed out campaign material for both himself and Espaillat. (The candidates have endorsed each other.)

“I can reach him and say, ‘Hey, can you all do something with this situation?’” Taylor said.

Espaillat and his supporters say now is not the time for a challenger. They think the focus should be on making sure the right people are in place to deliver on a Democratic agenda.

“This is not the time for training sessions, and whether you like him or not, Espaillat has a record that he can stand on,” Rep. Nydia Velázquez, who is retiring at the end of her term and who has backed Espaillat, told NOTUS. “I disagreed with him at the beginning in terms of Gaza and the criminal behavior of Netanyahu, but beyond that, he’s been serving this district. In the area of immigration, in the area of putting more resources.”

Rep. Nydia Velázquez, with Espaillat, leaving 26 Federal Plaza in lower Manhattan. Heather Khalifa/AP

“I support him, and I believe in my heart that this is not the time to try something new, because we don’t have time for experiments,” she continued.

The race gained a new level of attention when Mamdani endorsed Avila Chevalier at the end of May, as one of the three congressional races he’s decided to weigh in on. It’s made for complicated dynamics: Mamdani had reportedly agreed to back Espaillat, who supported his mayoral campaign after his primary win, but then the mayor went with Avila Chevalier instead. In the weeks since, Mamdani has stumped for Avila Chevalier and attended canvassing events.

“I won’t minimize the impact of our mayor coming in. It absolutely gave a higher profile to his opponent, for all those reasons,” New York City Comptroller Mark Levine, a longtime supporter of Espaillat, told NOTUS after a labor rally in support of Espaillat on the first day of early voting. “It’s a close race, but I’m confident that we’re going to win.”

In the weeks since, Mamdani and Avila Chevalier, along with the other two House candidates he’s hoping to propel to federal office, have appeared in an ad together and canvassed alongside each other. On Thursday, the candidates appeared at a joint rally with Mamdani and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, where Sanders ticked through some of the antiestablishment momentum that progressives have logged so far this primary cycle in races across the country.

Avila Chevalier “embodies the best of our politics: she has long held the belief that government should work for everyone, not just the wealthy and well-connected,” Mamdani said in a statement to NOTUS. “In D.C., I am confident that [she] will fight for everyday working New Yorkers; she’ll take on corporate greed and protect our immigrant communities.”

But as splashy as her campaign has been, Avila Chevalier is still competing in a district where residents have known Espaillat as their lawmaker for a decade — one of the biggest challenges she would have to overcome.

“I supported him for years,” Harlem resident Larry Graves told NOTUS shortly after he met Espaillat at the lawmaker’s annual Juneteenth concert at Riverbank State Park. “He says what he does and he does what he says. He’s not just one of those people just sitting around doing nothing. He does what he’s supposed to do.”

The other candidate, Graves said, just “talks a good game.”