Major NY-13 Primary Upset
Mamdani-Backed Progressive Darializa Avila Chevalier Unseats Incumbent Espaillat in NY-13 Primary Upset
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Key Points
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Chevalier's campaign included extremist rhetoric and affiliations, including attending a rally celebrating Hamas's October 2023 attack in southern Israel, with anti-Israel rhetoric centered in her campaign.
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The Associated Press noted that with around 86% of the expected vote counted, Avila Chevalier held about 49.4% to Espaillat's 45.9% in the race for New York's 13th District.
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Endorsements and fundraising dynamics highlighted the race: Espaillat had support from Gov. Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James, and raised about $2.6 million to Avila Chevalier's roughly $1.1 million, with Chevalier having worked on Mamdani's campaign and being 32 years old.
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Markets and broader momentum: pre-election prediction markets had estimated as high as 72% odds in Espaillat's favor, but the outcome aligned with a broader progressive wave and Mamdani-endorsed candidates sweeping their races, signaling a potential shift in New York politics.
Darializa Avila Chevalier, a 32-year-old community organizer backed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the Democratic Socialists of America, defeated five-term incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat in the Democratic primary for New York's 13th Congressional District. NY1 called the race for Chevalier after she held roughly 49.4% of the vote to Espaillat's 45.9% with about 86% of ballots counted.
The result stunned political observers. Prediction markets had given Espaillat a 72% chance of winning. He had raised $2.6 million — more than double Chevalier's $1.1 million. Yet the insurgent candidate swept Upper Manhattan and the West Bronx, ending the career of the first formerly undocumented immigrant ever elected to Congress.
Mamdani's Endorsement Machine Sweeps Three Races
Chevalier worked on Mamdani's 2025 mayoral campaign before launching her own congressional bid. Mamdani repaid the loyalty with a high-profile media blitz. He ran ads featuring Chevalier, former City Comptroller Brad Lander, and state lawmaker Claire Valdez during New York Knicks playoff games, according to CBS News. All three candidates won their primaries on Tuesday night.
Democratic strategist Evan Roth Smith called the sweep "the first major test of the durability and power of left-progressive power in New York City," telling The Washington Post the districts won cut across "demographic, geographic, and class lines." Espaillat conceded on election night, acknowledging a "new wave" in the district, Norwood News reported.
Housing Costs and Generational Anger Fueled the Upset
Chevalier built her campaign around "housing as a human right." Soaring rents in Harlem and Inwood made the message land hard. She also called for universal health care, abolishing ICE, and a national right to legal counsel for tenants facing eviction. "The old politics that got us into this crisis is not the politics that's going to get us out," she told supporters, according to The Guardian.
Espaillat, 71, was the Chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and a towering figure in Dominican-American politics. But his 2:1 fundraising advantage and endorsements from Gov. Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James were not enough. Mamdani's 2025 mayoral win had already brought a surge of young, newly registered Democratic Socialist voters into the district, according to Norwood News.
Chevalier's Anti-Israel Ties Drew Sharp Criticism
The race turned ugly in its final weeks. Chevalier attended a rally in Times Square on October 8, 2023 — the day after Hamas's attack on Israel — that critics called a celebration of the violence. Pro-Israel groups including JCRC-NY and AIPAC raised alarms. Mark Treyger of JCRC-NY said her rhetoric "assigns collective blame" and crosses into antisemitism, according to JNS.
Chevalier pushed back, saying she attended the rally out of concern for Palestinian civilians, not to celebrate the attack. The Times of Israel noted her campaign was openly anti-AIPAC, and that her win — alongside Lander's — signals a major shift in how New York Democrats approach Middle East policy. Deleted social media posts calling for police abolition and expressing sympathy for Russia's position in Ukraine also surfaced in the final stretch, per Jewish Insider.
A Stinging Rebuke for the Democratic Establishment
The loss is an embarrassment for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, who backed both Espaillat and Goldman — and watched both lose. Hochul also backed both losing incumbents. The defeats strip the Congressional Hispanic Caucus of its chair and raise urgent questions about the establishment's grip on New York's left flank, CBS News reported.
Chevalier now heads into the November general election as the heavy favorite in this deep-blue district. If she wins, she will join the progressive "Squad" in Congress and push for Medicare for All and aggressive tenant protections. Official vote totals were still being certified at the time of reporting, according to WTOP.
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