Socialist who called US ‘a disgrace’ defeats Democrat incumbent in NYC

A controversial socialist who once called the United States “a f—–g disgrace” and was backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, ousted a five-term Democratic incumbent in New York’s 13th Congressional District.

Darializa Avila Chevalier, 32, is a community organizer who studied at Columbia University where she was known for leftist agitation and her membership in a group called Columbia University Apartheid Divest that would later post “Death to America” on its social media. She defeated Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y. on Tuesday.

Avila Chevalier, who positioned herself further to the left than powerful progressives including former Vice President Kamala Harris, has faced scrutiny for her stance on private property, police, borders and calls to nationalize large swaths of the private sector in now-deleted posts from 2018 to 2022.

In a 2021 repost, Avila Chevalier said that abolishing borders, prisons and police is “possible, necessary, and the only moral way forward,” and later echoed posts that said “all deportation is wrong” and, “Yes, literally abolish the border,” according to one report.

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“This country is a f—–g disgrace,” she said in a post.

“I forgot to get napkins so I just wiped my hand on the American flag behind me,” she reportedly said in yet another.

She reportedly called former President Joe Biden a “rapist” and “war criminal,” chastised Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., for his “liberal Zionism,” and said “F–k Kamala Harris.”

Despite this, with Mamdani’s backing and an increasingly left-leaning voter bloc in New York, Avila Chevalier secured the Democratic nomination.

Rep. Adriano Espaillat, D-N.Y., stands outside of Delaney Hall detention center in Newark, New Jersey. 5/28/26. (Rashid Umar Abbasi for Digital)

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In a recent debate with Espaillat, who came to the United States illegally before becoming a naturalized citizen and running for office, Avila Chevalier doubled down on her belief that no illegal aliens should be deported from the U.S., even if they have committed violent crimes and served prison or jail time.

She also once blasted Black and Arab men for “fetishizing ugly colonizer women,” referring to white women.

Despite the controversy, Mamdani, who first endorsed Avila Chevalier in May, stuck by his endorsement and tested his socialist coattails.

“When it comes to Darializa’s campaign, I had not seen those tweets and what I’ve heard from her and what I know a lot of others in the district that have heard from her is that her views have evolved and that the campaign she is running on is reflective of what she’s going to be fighting for,” Mamdani said when confronted by the candidate’s controversial comments.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks during a press conference at the Hotel & Gaming Trades Council building in New York City on July 2, 2025. (Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)

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“And frankly, when I see a candidate who has a record like she does of freeing New Yorkers who are unjustly detained by ICE, of standing up for the working person who has often been left out of our politics, especially in a district that has so many of the same themes that we’re speaking of today — a fear of displacement, a fear of being pushed out of a place you helped to build — I think that she would be an incredible champion for that district and for the city as a whole,” he continued.

Under its geographic boundaries, NY-13 encompasses Upper Manhattan and part of the West Bronx.

The district has never been represented by a Republican, and Avila Chevalier is all but guaranteed to win November’s general election now that she’s clinched the Democratic nomination.