DSA is targeting Rep. Adriano Espaillat in NY-13

13th District

Upper Manhattan neighborhoods including Inwood, Washington Heights, East Harlem, Harlem and Morningside Heights; and Bronx neighborhoods including Fordham, Bedford Park and Kingsbridge.

TLDR: A Dominican-American uptown power broker gets a DSA-backed challenge.

Incumbent: Adriano Espaillat

Challengers: Darializa Avila Chevalier, Oscar Romero

2025 Democratic mayoral primary results (first round): Zohran Mamdani 47%; Andrew Cuomo 34%; Brad Lander 9%; Other 10%

The Z factor: The mayor has so far steered clear of the race despite his ideological similarities with Espaillat’s challenger. 

The X factor: Does DSA have the clout to defeat the well-funded, well-known incumbent without Mamdani? 

What you need to know: A clash between the Democratic establishment and the wave of youthful left-leaning enthusiasm that powered New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s historic rise is playing out in a congressional district in Upper Manhattan and the Bronx – a test of the city’s changing political climate. 

Rep. Adriano Espaillat, one of the state’s most influential Latino leaders who has represented the 13th District since 2017, faces an insurgent challenge from Darializa Avila Chevalier, an Afro-Latina Harlem-based organizer who has generated an increasing amount of attention as a first-time candidate. Oscar Romero, another candidate in the race who has raised around $11,000, has not picked up much traction. 

Like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Jamaal Bowman, fellow young upstarts who dethroned incumbents from the left, Avila Chevalier, who is 32, has endorsements from the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America and Justice Democrats. She’s an anti-Zionist who played a prominent role in pro-Palestine encampments at Columbia University, her alma mater. Currently, she’s a PhD candidate at the City University of New York, a public defense investigator at the Neighborhood Defenders Services of Harlem and a member of United Auto Workers, which recently endorsed her. Justice Democrats specifically recruited her to run against Espaillat after a surprisingly high number of voters in the diverse district backed Mamdani in the primary and general elections. Last fundraising quarter, Avila Chevalier managed to outraise Espaillat, pulling in nearly $270,000 to his $230,000. (Espaillat still has far more on hand overall: nearly $1 million to the roughly $500,000 Avila Chevalier has raised in total.)

“I think a lot of folks underestimated this race because they underestimated the people who live here and how hungry we are for something different,” Avila Chevalier said. 

Espaillat, the first Dominican and the first formerly undocumented immigrant to serve in Congress, is still the clear front-runner. A powerful, longtime powerbroker who has cultivated a cohort of local allies known as “the Squadriano,” has far and away more name recognition. He’s endorsed by Attorney General Letitia James as well as multiple big unions. While his staunch support of Israel puts him out of favor with the growing contingent of left-leaning New Yorkers in the district – and played a big role in Avila Chevalier challenging him –  the rest of his voting record is fairly progressive. Still, he’s clearly taking her campaign seriously, certainly more than other recent challenges he’s faced. 

“This is a grassroots campaign, and we’re fighting for a vision that puts working people first,” Espaillat said in a statement.

While Mamdani’s support would give Avila Chevalier a significant boost against the well-known incumbent, it’s unlikely that he’ll end up backing her despite their shared ideology. After endorsing former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic mayoral primary, Espaillat went hard for Mamdani in the general election, emerging as one of his key backers. The mayor wouldn’t be eager to go to war with the powerful Democrat – doing so would likely draw the ire of key City Council members as well as a broad swath of Latino elected officials. 

Regardless of the race’s outcome though, it’s clear the district and the forces that power it are changing. Whether it’s shifted enough for another longshot lefty upstart to topple a powerful establishment figure, is unlikely – but stranger things have happened. 

“Four years ago we would never have had this conversation about a DSA candidate taking out Adriano Espaillat in this district,” Democratic political consultant Eli Valentin said. “It just speaks to (DSA’s) force and the fact that they’re expanding beyond North Brooklyn and Western Queens.”