A Mamdani-backed progressive’s challenge to a veteran Democrat highlights party fractures
By David Wright, CNN
(CNN) — The divides between the Democratic old guard and a new class of progressive challenger were on sharp display on Tuesday night as a congressional candidate in New York’s 13th District apologized for past disparaging remarks about Kamala Harris.
“To Vice President Kamala Harris, I sincerely apologize,” Darializa Avila Chevalier, the 32-year-old democratic socialist endorsed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, said during a heated debate when pushed by her opponent, incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat. “You did not deserve that language from me. And I would’ve loved to have seen a Black woman president. As a Black woman, I know how much that would’ve meant to so many, including myself.”
CNN’s KFile previously reported on Avila Chevalier’s now-deleted tweets critical of Democratic leaders, including posting “F**k Kamala Harris” after the then-vice president told Guatemalan migrants in September 2021 not to come to the United States illegally.
The progressive candidate previously told CNN that the now-deleted tweets don’t represent who she is today and on the debate stage, she reiterated her regret for the remarks. But Espaillat, 71, dismissed her defense: “This is not just some common statement that was made when you were a young person, a teenager, an adolescent. This was just a couple of years ago. And I think it’s irresponsible for someone that has a chronically irresponsible social media to go to Congress. Words really matter.”
Avila Chevalier fired back that she had voted for Harris in 2024 and pivoted to an indictment of the modern Democratic Party. “Yes, I was critical of Kamala Harris’ record. And I voted for her because like so many Black and brown people, I am someone who has been forced to save the Democratic Party from itself,” she said. “And that is because we have had representatives like my opponent who has refused to listen to his constituents, who has refused to actually listen to the will of their Democratic base. And it’s time that we have representatives who actually listen to their Democratic base.”
The fiery exchange exemplifies the ideological and generational splits that have defined the race in the Democratic stronghold, which covers parts of Manhattan and the Bronx, and which the party is grappling with in primaries across the country this year.
A race disrupted by deleted tweets
Avila Chevalier, an investigator at a public defender’s office and doctoral student, emerged as one of the most prominent left-wing challengers in the country after Mamdani endorsed her bid to unseat Espaillat, who has represented the 13th District since 2017.
Reports of her deleted social media posts, however, have drawn scrutiny – including CNN KFile’s coverage of a deleted Twitter account that included thousands of posts and reposts expressing support for abolishing police, prisons and borders, as well as seizing private property and nationalizing major industries and calling into question Israel’s right to exist.
Avila Chevalier has stressed that the posts no longer reflect her politics – but she found herself on the defensive at several points during Tuesday’s debate as Espaillat seized upon them.
Invoking another flashpoint within the Democratic Party on the issue of Israel, the congressman argued, “The difference between me and my opponent is that I believe in a two-state solution and she doesn’t believe in the existence of Israel.”
And he criticized Avila Chevalier for attending a pro-Palestinian rally the day after Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack on Israel – where militants killed 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages. Political leaders widely condemned the rally in the aftermath of the attack – and Brad Lander, another Mamdani-endorsed candidate running in New York’s 10th District, said earlier this month that he canceled his membership with the Democratic Socialists of America for promoting it.
“Even Mayor Mandani and Comptroller Lander did not attend this rally,” Espaillat said. “She went to celebrate the death of innocent people in Israel right after the attack.”
Avila Chevalier said she would “never celebrate the death of any human being,” arguing that she attended the rally to protest against an “outsized reaction” to Hamas’ attack, which she feared would “cause the death of thousands upon thousands of people” in Gaza.
She maintained a critical line toward Israel and its treatment of Palestinians in Gaza, where more than 70,000 have died since the start of the war, drawing comparisons to the experiences of Black and Latino communities in the US.
“I’ve seen a lot of similarities not just in the way things are done, but also in the very institutions that are enacting that violence. The tear gas that was being dropped on Palestinians in Gaza in 2014 was the same tear gas that was being dropped on Black protesters in Ferguson in 2014,” Avila Chevalier said.
Following the debate, Avila Chevalier media director Natalia Latif stressed that the progressive candidate has taken accountability for the posts and moved forward.
“She said plainly, ‘I deeply regret my tweets,’ took ownership, and pivoted to what actually matters: that this district deserves a representative who will fight for affordable housing, fight to abolish ICE, and fight to make sure our tax dollars come back to our communities instead of being spent on forever wars,” Latif said in a statement.
A test of Mamdani’s endorsement
The race in the 13th District has become widely seen as a proxy battle between the Democratic establishment and the rising democratic socialist contingency – with Mamdani flexing his influence in the movement.
At a press conference this month, the mayor explained that he had not seen Avila Chevalier’s posts when he endorsed her. “What I’ve heard from her, and what I know a lot of others in the district have heard from her, is that her views have evolved,” he said, continuing to stand by the candidate.
The controversy has echoes of Mamdani’s own anti-establishment mayoral campaign last fall, shaped by his outspoken criticism of Israel’s conduct in Gaza and clashes with former Gov. Andrew Cuomo on the issue.
And now as mayor, he’s putting his political capital on the line in several New York races where he’s supporting progressive primary challengers.
Mamdani endorsed Lander, his amicable opponent during the mayoral race, in his bid against 10th District incumbent Rep. Dan Goldman, calling Lander “a trusted ally and partner.” And he endorsed state Assemblywoman Claire Valdez’s bid against outgoing Rep. Nydia Velázquez’s chosen successor, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso, in the 7th District primary.
But Mamdani has also sought to wield his influence in favor of the Democratic establishment. He discouraged Chi Ossé, a New York City Council member and longtime political ally, from mounting a primary challenge against House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, and flexed his influence with the state chapter of the Democratic Socialists if America, reportedly urging them against endorsing Ossé. Ossé dropped his bid a few weeks later.
Next Tuesday will mark the first major test of his endorsement as New Yorkers head to the polls to decide whether Avila Chevalier and other members of the city’s growing progressive movement will advance to the general election.
The-CNN-Wire
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