(The Center Square) – A wave of progressive challengers in New York were successful in their attempts to unseat incumbent Democrats serving in Congress in last month’s primary election.
A few of those victories garnered headlines outside of the Empire State and has continued to spark ongoing discussion about the future direction of the Democratic Party. Arguably, none of the wins by progressive candidates has commanded more attention than Darializa Avila Chevalier’s victory over five-term incumbent Adriano Espaillat in New York’s 13th congressional district.
Avila Chevalier, a 32-year-old activist and self-described democratic socialist, has the support of various progressive lawmakers and organizations, including New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Justice Democrats, and NYC Democratic Socialists of America.
Espaillat, the 71-year-old lawmaker who serves as chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, was endorsed by a wide range of Democratic lawmakers, including New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and New York State AFL-CIO.
“The politics of the past ends today,” Avila Chevalier told supporters, according to the New York Times, following her victory. “What we have delivered here today is a clear mandate that the era of taking a check and cashing a check and calling it representation is over.”
If elected to Congress, on day one, Avila Chevalier wrote on her campaign website that she’d sign on to a variety of legislation, including Tenants Right to Organize Act, Green New Deal, and College for All Act. The Cook Political Report, a national ratings outlet, describes the race for New York’s 13th Congressional District as “solid Democratic,” meaning Avila Chevalier is the odds-on-favorite to represent the district next session.
However, the New York Times described her online presence as a “flashpoint of the race in its final weeks,” over a series of old social media posts.
In an interview with CNN over the weekend, Gov. Josh Shapiro was asked to weigh in on Avila Chevalier previously calling for the abolition of prisons, open borders and ending deportations, even for those with violent criminal records. The governor was also asked about her decision to attend a pro-Palestinian rally on Oct. 8, 2023, an event that reportedly featured some anti-Semitic rhetoric justifying the attack by Hamas on Israel that occurred the day before.
“I mean, look, her district voted for her, but I have profound differences from that particular candidate, based on the citations that you read there, and she’s not someone, who seemingly I would agree with on many things, or that we share similar values,” Shapiro said.
His response to CNN’s Dana Bash was about how he felt about someone with those views being in Congress.
“She ran on the Democratic ticket, I guess, as a socialist,” he continued. “Her voters in that district determined that she was the one they wanted representing her.”
Shapiro then pointed to the future of the Democratic Party, when Bash asked him what Avila Chevalier’s victory says about the party.
“I think what our party has to go through, that will be very healthy, and something we’ve not really done since the 1992 election cycle, is to have a battle over what we believe in, to have a battle over the ideas that we are going to hold on to and campaign on, and then deliver on as a way to make people’s lives better,” Shapiro said. “And I expect our party over the course of this next year or so to go through a battle about what we believe in, and then come out unified in a way that we can take the fight to the other side and really deliver for the American people.”
While Shapiro is the latest Pennsylvania Democrat to weigh in on Avila Chevalier’s candidacy, he isn’t the only member of his party in the Keystone State to offer their thoughts.
State Rep. Chris Rabb, who also identifies as a Democratic Socialist, will likely be joining Avila Chevalier in Congress next session after his primary victory in Pennsylvania’s 3rd U.S. House District, another seat deemed as “solid Democratic,” by the Cook Political Report.
Rabb supported Avila Chevalier’s bid for Congress and even cut a short video together in the lead up to the primary election.
“Across the country, voters want new leaders. As the daughter of a single mom, Darializa knows working families need help as costs keep rising. She will fight to end Trump’s billion-dollar wars and invest in our communities,” Rabb wrote on social media.
Following her win, Rabb also sent out a statement congratulating her.
“Darializa knows we need to invest in babies not bombs, immigrants over ICE & renters not real estate developers,” Rabb wrote on social media. “Together in Congress, we’re gonna take on the DC establishment & deliver for working families across the country!”
Rabb will likely represent the district covering nearly half of Philadelphia next session. The other half, Pennsylvania’s 2nd U.S. House District, will likely continue to be represented by Democratic Congressman Brendan Boyle.
Social media posts show that Boyle shares a different view of Avila Chevalier than Rabb.
In an interview with the New York Editorial Board, Avila Chevalier was asked if there are countries “historically you can think of that don’t have borders, don’t deport people who aren’t there legally,” and if there was a “model for that.”
“Well, first of all, we can think about nation state borders as a larger, longer, more philosophical concept-,” she responded.
This exchange, shared in a screenshot on social media, grabbed the attention of Boyle.
“This is bat sh-t crazy. And all normal Democrats need to call out this absolute nonsense,” Boyle wrote.
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., who has become increasingly at odds with his own party over the past year, has publicly criticized Avila Chevalier and other New York progressives who recently won their primary elections.
Although Trump’s approval rating is underwater and pundits expect the Democratic Party to make gains in November’s midterm election, a recent CNN poll showed that just 28% of Americans hold a favorable view of the Democratic Party.
Shapiro, during that same CNN interview, said he believes that “what needs to happen is Democrats need to deliver the way we do here in Pennsylvania, deliver on things that make people’s lives better.”
“And I think what we’ve got to focus on, not just as a party but in politics in general, are real deliverables for people on getting stuff done for people and shying away from this performative politics that just makes noise, but doesn’t make anybody’s life better,” Shapiro said.
When pressed on who specifically he was referring to conducting “performative politics,” Shapiro said the U.S. Congress has “largely been about performative politics.”
“I think you’ve seen people largely on both extremes that engage in performative politics that might get some likes on Twitter, might, and I mean this respectfully, get your attention in the media, but doesn’t actually make someone’s life better,” Shapiro said.
