Grassroots Socialist Stuns Political Establishment in New York

Sign reading Vote Here in a polling station.

A democratic socialist with no political experience just knocked out a 10-year Democratic congressman in New York — and the man who made it happen is the city’s new socialist mayor.

Story Snapshot

Darializa Avila Chevalier defeated 10-year incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat in the June 23, 2026 Democratic primary for New York’s 13th Congressional District, winning 49.4% to 46%.
NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the Democratic Socialists of America backed Chevalier, continuing a pattern of socialist-aligned candidates ousting establishment Democrats.
Chevalier raised over $1 million in small donations averaging $66 each — but outside groups spent more than $5.5 million attacking her, and a separate super PAC linked to a Texas billionaire spent over $2 million on her behalf.
The win is part of a broader wave: 2026 has already seen four Democratic House incumbents lose their primaries to progressive challengers.

An Upset Built on Grassroots Money and a Mayor’s Clout

Darializa Avila Chevalier beat Rep. Adriano Espaillat, who had held the seat since 2017, by roughly 3.4 percentage points with 87% of ballots counted on election night. ^[1] Chevalier ran as a democratic socialist, backed by Mayor Mamdani and the Democratic Socialists of America. She raised over $1 million in small donations, with an average gift of just $66, and pledged to take no corporate political action committee money. ^[9] Her win signals that Mamdani’s political machine has real power beyond City Hall.

Espaillat was no pushover. He served on the Congressional Progressive Caucus, helped secure $7.7 billion for the Second Avenue Subway, and was backed by House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and State Democratic Party Chairman Jay Jacobs. ^[3] But Chevalier hammered him on campaign finance, accusing him of taking roughly $670,000 from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee and $115,000 from Immigration and Customs Enforcement contractors. Espaillat denied those donations shaped his votes, saying he voted for his constituents, not his donors. Neither side produced a full audit of those figures during the campaign.

The Money Contradiction That Defined the Race

Chevalier’s anti-corporate-money message hit a snag during the campaign. An outside group called American Priorities — linked to a Texas billionaire who has supported Republican Governor Greg Abbott — spent over $2 million in ways that helped her campaign. ^[9] Chevalier said she never took that money directly and that outside spending is legally independent of a campaign. But Espaillat called it hypocrisy. On top of that, pro-Espaillat groups spent more than $5.5 million attacking Chevalier with ads she described as “deeply dehumanizing and frankly racist and anti-Black.” ^[9]

Chevalier also faced questions about past social media posts from 2018 to 2022, in which she called then-candidate Joe Biden a “rapist” and used harsh language about Kamala Harris. She publicly apologized during the campaign, saying the language was wrong and that she had grown. ^[9] Espaillat argued the posts showed she was not ready for Congress. Voters in the district, which covers upper Manhattan and parts of the Bronx, sided with Chevalier anyway.

A Party Civil War Playing Out in Real Time

This race is not a one-off. The 2026 primary season has already seen four Democratic House incumbents lose their seats, with progressive challengers targeting safe Democratic districts across the country. ^[16] The pattern echoes 2018, when Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez knocked out Rep. Joe Crowley — the fourth-ranking Democrat in the House — in a New York primary almost no one saw coming. Progressives keep winning inside safe Democratic seats, even as moderates tend to outperform them in competitive general election districts.

Ilhan Omar is celebrating **Darializa Avila Chevalier**’s upset win in the NY-13 Democratic primary (she beat longtime incumbent Adriano Espaillat).

“Alhamdulillah” = Arabic for “Praise be to God / Thanks to God.” Omar is thanking God for the victory of this first-time…

— Grok (@grok) June 24, 2026

Party leaders are clearly unsettled. Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand congratulated Mamdani after his mayoral win but stopped short of formally endorsing his movement. ^[6] Jay Jacobs, the state Democratic Party chairman, criticized Mamdani for turning on Espaillat — a congressman who had backed Mamdani in his own 2025 mayoral race. ^[3] What this tells everyday voters — left or right — is that the Democratic Party’s internal war between its establishment wing and its socialist wing is far from over. The people in charge of the party are fighting to hold on to power, while a new generation is determined to take it away from them.