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Darializa Avila Chevalier's First Post-Win Interview: DSA Candidate Beats 5-Term Incumbent Espaillat

2026-06-24 News & Politics
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Democracy Now!
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Support our work: https://democracynow.org/donate/sm-desc-yt Darializa Avila Chevalier joins Democracy Now! in her first live broadcast interview since her upset win. After weathering a vicious and often racist campaign conducted by her AIPAC-funded opponent Espaillat, Avila Chevalier is projected to become the first Dominican American woman to serve in the U.S. Congress, representing New York's 13th Congressional District. "Americans are tired of this politics of death, politics of cynicism, and want to make sure that our resources are coming back to our communities and investing in the life and the needs of the people here," says Avila Chevalier, a former student organizer at Columbia University who has been active in the pro-Palestine and immigrant rights movements for over a decade. She credits part of her decision to run to her experience advocating for fellow student and Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil's release from federal ICE detention last year. "When I was first considering whether or not this was a race that I wanted to throw my hat in, I just kept thinking about Mahmoud and the millions of people like him and [Khalil's wife] Noor, who are so fearful right now, and what it would have meant to them to have a representative who was actually fighting for them." 00:00 New York's Democratic primaries 08:11 Meet Darializa Avila Chevalier 10:05 Adriano Espaillat's racist campaign tactics 14:30 Pro-Palestine activism and Mahmoud Khalil Democracy Now! is an independent global news hour that airs on over 1,500 TV and radio stations Monday through Friday. Watch our livestream at democracynow.org Mondays to Fridays 8-9 a.m. ET. Subscribe to our Daily Email Digest: https://democracynow.org/subscribe

Top Comments (10)

@SupportingACause-j1p 2026-06-24

No AIPAC money!!

382 17 replies
@RYN988 2026-06-24

Finally NYC representatives will be representing NYC not Tel Aviv! Congratulations!

362 32 replies
@slowgunmurugan6719 2026-06-24

Of all the victories last night, Darializa's win is the one that I am most excited about - her ability to keep her calm and dignity in the face of vile racist attacks from the incumbent is beyond my own capacity, one that I respected her all the more for. In these bleak times, it is such a ray of hope that the voice of the people can truly get its representation in government.

112 2 replies
@MichaelSharpBLACKDRUMMIKE 2026-06-24

Now we got AOC and DAC!

100 6 replies
@fridajunkie 2026-06-24

Yes, it’s time to get young people in government. American government is looking like a nursing home.

99 31 replies
@changeofscenery1 2026-06-24

someone who is able to pronounce anyone’s name in any language correctly deserves our utmost Respect…….thank you Zohran

98 4 replies
@philippelechat921 2026-06-24

I canvassed for Dari but honestly wasn’t too hopeful and pretty scared to check the result last night. It was a very tight race and the joy was all the more because of that. Thank you for such inspirational teamwork ❤️❤️❤️

89 4 replies
@greymatters7039 2026-06-24

Darializa is RIGHT. Espalliat was QUIET as a MOUSE during Khalid’s detention. It was as if he didn’t have a Rep. in NY SMH!

32
@MeguVusion 2026-06-24

Money for schools, not war. Money for healthcare, not war.

31 1 replies
@GrizzleRose 2026-06-26

We need this soooooo soooo badly!!! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

13 1 replies

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