Darializa Avila Chevalier, 32, won New York’s 13th congressional district primary on Election Night, June 23, beating incumbent Congressman Adriano Espaillat, 71, chairman of the powerful Congressional Hispanic Caucus in Washington D.C. who has held the seat since 2017. The win ends the Dominican American congressman’s five-term tenure in the House of Representatives and an almost three-decade career representing broadly the same community between State and congressional offices. Based on unofficial Election Night results, Avila Chevalier garnered 49% of the vote over Espaillat’s 45% and becomes the first woman to represent NY-13.

 

According to her team, more than $7 million in super PAC [political action committee] money was spent by Espaillat, the first formerly undocumented immigrant to be elected to Congress, in efforts to defeat her. As reported, Avila Chevalier is an organizer and public defense investigator, and a self-described working class New Yorker who was recruited to run for Congress just last autumn by Justice Democrats, the same group who recruited fellow progressive Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14), who also won her primary with 86% of the vote.

The 13th congressional district covers Northern Manhattan and some or all of the West Bronx neighborhoods of Bedford Park, Kingsbridge, Kingsbridge Heights, University Heights, Morris Heights, Fordham Manor and Fordham Heights. Based on unofficial results, while Espaillat won The Bronx portion of the district with 4,987 votes to Avila Chevalier’s 2,709, the congresswoman-elect took Manhattan with 30,061 to Espaillat’s 25,445. Espaillat also won in every Bronx assembly district that falls within the Bronx portion of NY-13.

 

Earlier on Election Day, Avila-Chevalier was accompanied to the polls by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani who, as reported, had endorsed her in the race. “Honored and thrilled to have cast my vote in community this morning!” she said. “Today, uptown and The Bronx has a choice: remain stuck in the status quo politics of the past, where our rent keeps rising and corporations keep getting richer, or welcome a new day for us all. Polls are open until 9pm: make sure your voice is heard! https://findmypollsite.vote.nyc”

 

The mayor had also rallied with Avila-Chevalier in Manhattan the night before Election Day, as well as with Bernie Sanders at a prior rally in Brooklyn on Thursday, June 18, along with several other progressive candidates running across the City in various races.

 

Reacting to her win, Avila Chevalier, who recently spoke to Norwood News about her campaign, said in part on Election Night, “I am so thrilled to have the support of my community, and I am so proud that they have put their trust in me to send me to Congress on their behalf.”

Avila Chevalier’s team said her victory is notable not only because of her status as a first-time candidate, but also because of what they described as “the deeply entrenched nature of the political machine she defeated.” Several videos shared on social media in recent days show the candidate being followed and yelled at by her critics, many of whom appear to be Jewish and who take issue with her stance on the Israel Gaza War, calling her a “Jew hater.”

 

Avila Chevalier is a staunch supporter of Palestine, a friend and fellow Columbia graduate  of Mahmoud Khalil, as reported, and is frequently photographed wearing a keffiyeh (scarf). She frequently wore buttons and used the catchphrase “Babies not Bombs.” Read more here.

 

In response to the divisiveness nature of the race, on the night before the Election, Avila Chevalier shared a video message, saying, “I wish I didn’t have to make this video but there is hatred brewing against me that I cannot stay silent about. In the final days of this campaign, I have been hit with attacks that use Haitian as a slur, a coordinated wave of islamophobia, lies about my identity, my faith and my family. Espaillat supporters are standing outside poll sites in the district shouting lies and slinging racial slurs.”

Avila Chevalier added, “People are reaching out to my family demanding to see my birth certificate, a tired racist trope that every Black leader who dares to challenge power knows all too well. We saw a similar campaign last year when Andrew Cuomo and his allies attacked Mayor Mamdani over his faith, and we all watched Donald Trump run his racist birther campaign against President Barack Obama. So I have to ask. Why is a supposed progressive (gestures air quotes) congressman following the same steps as [inaudible] electeds like Cuomo and Trump?”

 

She added, “He’s not new to this. This is what he does. Espaillat and his machine have resurfaced and carried out this playbook time and time again, and I, quite frankly, refuse to allow it to continue to happen. He did this to [the late Congressman] Charlie Rangel, claiming that his Latino supporters were traitors to the Latino community and he did it to Sen. Robert Jackson, another Black man, for daring to run in what they called a Dominican [gestures air quotes] district.” Espaillat succeeded Rangel as congressman in the district.

 

Avila-Chevalier continued, “I am proudly Dominican. I am a proud Black woman. I am a proud Muslim woman, running for Congress in a district that is home to Black and Caribbean and Dominican families, who have built this community together for generations, and the smear campaign against me, is not politics. That is racism, dressed up and unleashed by my opponent, because he has nothing else left. He can’t run on his record. He can’t run on his dedication to this community and he can’t answer for his nine years of abandonment in this office.”

 

She continued, “So, instead, he’s trying to pit us against each other because a fractured electorate is the only kind that he can still win. but here’s what he’s up against: Harlem and Washington Heights have been family for generations. Black New Yorkers and Dominicans have lived side by side for generations. We eat together, we prayer together, we raise our kids together, and many of us carry both of those identities, including me, and we don’t stand for his hate.”

 

Avila Chevalier continued, “And while he sows divisions through his surrogates, his canvassing and his supporters, he is taking money from the landlords who are raising our rents, from ICE contractors kidnapping our neighbors in churches and schools and hospitals, and from White, right-wing lobbies like AIPAC [the American Israeli Political Action Committee] that bankroll genocide, and supported efforts to overturn our 2020 election. That is who he’s fighting for, not us.”

 

She concluded, “But I’m not afraid of hate masking under power. I will never stop fighting for the right thing to do. I want to represent each and every single one of you. I want to build power for you and with you, and I want to tear down every barrier that has been put between you and the life that you deserve, and I want us to do it together, because tomorrow, on June 23, we have a choice. Do we want more cynicism and hatred from a congressman who shares donors with Donald Trump, while abandoning his own community, or do we want a fighter in office that will not be intimidated by hate, and will always put the needs of working people first? The choice is yours, New York.”

Central to the race was the topic of campaign financing, as reported, with Avila-Chevalier taking aim at Espaillat’s substantial donations from AIPAC. According to her campaign, her victory “made it clear that New Yorkers are ready for a new generation of leadership: one that prioritizes a politics of unity and solidarity rather than divisiveness, and one that seeks to uplift all people community-wide.” They said the victory also made it clear that “people power” had won out over big money.

 

In total, her campaign team said nearly $7 million was spent by pro-Espaillat PACs and super PACs, more than twice the less than $3 million spent by organizations and groups supporting Avila Chevalier’s campaign.

 

They said AIPAC and DMFI were key players backing Espaillat “funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars, through shell PACs like Bold America PAC, in an attempt to anonymously dump cash into elections but avoid disclosing their donors until after Election Day.” DMFI is a sales and marketing company specializing in travel and transportation.

 

They said that in addition, Espaillat’s campaign was funded by “more than $115,000 from ICE contractors, nearly $250,000 from real estate lobbies, $78,000 from corporate PACs, and in the 2025-2026 cycle alone, over $145,000 from AIPAC directly, bringing the total amount of money Espaillat accepted from AIPAC throughout his career to more than $676,000.”

They said despite this, Espaillat’s campaign “rich with corporate money but lacking in people power was rejected wholesale.” They said New Yorkers chose a politics of “hope and of life” with Avila Chevalier and rejected the status quo politics that they said had left uptown and The Bronx behind for far too long.

 

Avila Chevalier also campaigned on affordability. During one debate, the candidates were asked when was the last time they had visited the Dominican Republic. Avila Chevalier said around four years ago. Beaming, Espaillat responded, “I go there three times a year.” Avila Chevalier said she couldn’t afford to go every year.

 

Her campaign said that Avila Chevalier refused AIPAC money, corporate PAC money, and crypto money. They said her campaign was always powered by the people, fighting for the people, and on Election Day, voters made it clear that her campaign was also the choice of the people.

 

Avila Chevalier’s campaign team added that she was not only the first challenger candidate in NY-13 history to pass the $1 million raised mark in campaign contributions, but she also raised that sum as a first-time, working class candidate from more than 10,000 individual donors and with an average donation of just $66.

 

As reported, the congresswoman-elect also ran on a platform of Housing for All, abolishing ICE, and investing in people at home. Her campaign team said her vision along with divesting from foreign wars, and re-investing in local communities spoke to the priorities of voters in Harlem, Washington Heights, Kingsbridge, and beyond.

Espaillat previously served from 1997-2010 in the New York State Assembly and from 2011-2016 in the New York State Senate. Avila Chevalier’s team said that, in total, he has served for 29 years as an elected official in uptown Manhattan, the vast majority of her life.

 

Espaillat conceded the race on Election Night, with Bronx City Councilman Oswald Feliz (C.D. 15) seen standing right behind him. Espaillat had supported Feliz since he first ran and attending his first swearing in ceremony, as reported. Speaking in both English and Spanish, Espaillat said in part to the crowd, “For the last 30 years, this community has given me the privilege to represent you. We have worked together to achieve many things to accomplish many things and together, our families move forward in this neighborhood. Tonight wasn’t our night.”

 

A person in the crowd responded, “It’s ok!” Espaillat continued in part, “But, I love you anyway!” Upon hearing news of the congressman’s concession, Avila Chevalier’s supporters were seen jubilant in a video posted to social media by NY1, and broke into chants of “DSA (Democratic Socialists of America), DSA!”

Norwood News spoke to two Espaillat surrogates, a man and a woman, inside the lobby of Tracey Towers Mitchel Lama housing complex in Norwood on Election Night after poll closure, and asked them how the campaign had gone. Speaking in Spanish, one said, “Fairly successful. We achieved a lot of support, principally the Dominican community that were supportive in a massive way.”

 

The male surrogate said they focused on the congressman’s achievements in order to negate what he described as “propaganda” about the congressman. He said such “propaganda” was based on allegations that Espaillat had done little work while in office. He said there were always things to be done but that the congressman was always present in the community and that Dominicans and the wider Latin community had witnessed that first hand. “We have confidence that he will continue that,” he said.

 

Norwood News asked what type of questions voters had raised with them on Election Day. The female surrogate said, “Nobody was fighting here.” Her male colleague added, “Here, it was super peaceful.” We asked if they were referring to arguments between the different candidates’ supporters in Harlem and in Inwood on Election Day. They said they hadn’t heard of any disputes on Election Day but were about to join up with the other canvassers later. They said they had been in touch by social media during the day and hadn’t heard of any disputes.

 

Norwood News asked the female surrogate if she meant disputes with other campaign surrogates and the woman went on to talk about the rule whereby canvassers are not allowed canvass within a certain distance of poll sites and said that when canvassing on Election Day for the congressman, they had not encountered any issues in that regard. We understand she meant with poll workers.

 

Later, Norwood News spoke about the recent fire at a Dominican Republic tourist resort (not in Santo Domingo but in another area) in which it was reported that one Italian tourist died, 1700 people were evacuated, and their passports and belongings were destroyed.

 

Asked if he knew of any New York Dominicans who had family members who had been affected by the fire, the male surrogate said no. He said from what he heard some were hurt and were being assisted by various embassies with clothes and getting their passports in order etc. He said the previous 2025 tragedy that occurred in Santo Domingo, the capital, at the Jet Set Niteclub was a bigger tragedy in terms of the number of injuries/fatalities.

Avila Chevalier’s campaign said her campaign had been backed by the same coalition that “fights for everyday working people,” including the mayor, Justice Democrats, NYC-DSA, UAW Region 9A, Our Revolution, Indivisible National, Sunrise Movement National, Uptown Community Democrats, Inwood Indivisible, Jewish Voice for Peace, and U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights.

 

They said the same coalition included State Sen. Robert Jackson (S.D. 31), as reported, who represents Northern Manhattan and the West Bronx, State Sen. Jabari Brisport (S.D. 29) representing parts of Brooklyn, City Councilmembers Chi Ossé (C.D. 36), representing parts of Brooklyn, and Shahana Hanif (C.D. 39), also representing parts of Brooklyn, Assemblymember Claire Valdez (A.D. 37) who represents parts of Queens and who, herself, won the NY-7 Democratic congressional primary on Election Day with 56% of the vote, Assemblymember Phara Souffrant Forrest (A.D. 57), representing parts of Brooklyn, and former Congressman Jamaal Bowman (NY-16), who formerly represented parts of The Bronx and Westchester Counties.

 

According to Avila Chevalier’s team, the congresswoman-elect is building power for all New Yorkers, not just the wealthy and well-connected. On Election Night, after winning, she had also said in part, “For too long, uptown and The Bronx have been overlooked, let down, and neglected. That ends today. We deserve leadership in Washington that will fight tooth and nail for every single one of us, and I can’t wait to get to work with our community to deliver on that promise.”