One of the left-of-center congressional candidates who scored big wins in New York City’s Democratic primaries with the backing of Mayor Zohran Mamdani has strong ties to Florida, Tallahassee and Leon County Schools.
Darializa Avila Chevalier defeated a five-term incumbent, Rep. Adriano Espaillat, for New York’s 13th Congressional District, which encompasses parts of Harlem, Washington Heights, Inwood and the Bronx.
She was one of three Mamdani-endorsed challengers who defeated more mainstream candidates, including another incumbent, sending shockwaves through the party establishment.
Her campaign website describes her as a “working-class Dominican New Yorker who has been organizing in upper Manhattan for a fairer, more equitable and more affordable New York City since she was a teenager.” She’s also a Democratic socialist who vowed not to “back down” to President Donald Trump.
Avila Chevalier, 32, spent parts of her early years in the Dominican Republic and Florida and moved to New York 14 years ago to attend Columbia University. Before moving to the Big Apple, she was known as an outstanding student at Rickards High School, where she graduated in 2012.
Michelle Gayle, deputy superintendent of Leon County Schools, served as principal at Rickards when Chevalier attended. She told the USA TODAY NETWORK – Florida that Chevalier participated in the International Baccalaureate program and finished ninth in her graduating class.
“This is a huge deal for our city, for our state and definitely for the school district,” Gayle said.
Gayle added that the district’s vision and mission is to prepare kids to be leaders, though not necessarily in elected office.
“By virtue of her putting herself out there and by virtue of the fact that she wants to make her community, even in New York, better, it makes us proud,” she said. “It makes me think about our vision and our mission coming to life by what our scholars … continue to do positively shape their community.”
Avila Chevalier also made an impression on the congregation at Capital City Church of Christ, where she was a member. Dontaye Carter of Atlanta recalled working with her when he was serving as a youth ministry leader and attending Florida A&M University.
“She was always super-smart, highly intelligent,” he said. “When she went to Columbia, that didn’t surprise me. She was always joking, laughing, playing. But again, this was back when she was in high school.”
He said he was “proud and happy” not just for her victory but because of the issues she supports, including women’s and voters rights.
“It really takes time to find our voices, and the fact that she was able to find hers and find it at such a young age and being able to not just articulate but build community with like-minded people, to me that says a lot,” he said.
According to Florida voting records, Avila Chevalier also resided in Miami and Homestead. According to her campaign website, her father is a truck driver, and her single mother is a case worker. She also lived for a time with her grandmother in Venezuela.
‘I won’t back down to Trump’
The Mamdani slate, which also included Brad Lander and Clair Valdez, favored abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and labeled Israel’s actions in Gaza a genocide.
Lander, a former New York City comptroller, defeated Rep. Dan Goldman, a former prosecutor who steered one of Trump’s impeachment trials. Valdez, a first-term assemblywoman, defeated Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso for a seat left open by retiring Rep. Nydia Velazquez.
But Avila Chevalier, pulled off what was perhaps the most impressive victory of the night. The doctoral student and community organizer defeated Espaillat, head of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, by about 4 percentage points.
She fended off a deluge of attacks for previous social media posts that called for abolishing the police and prisons. She also called veterans “war criminals” and former President Joe Biden a “rapist,” although she apologized during the campaign.
“The same billionaires that attacked Zohran Mamdani are now spending millions against me,” Avila Chevalier said in an ad responding to the attacks. “They know that, unlike Adriano Espaillat, I can’t be bought and I won’t back down to Trump.”
In an interview with The Nation published on the eve of the election, Avila Chevalier said she wants to be an “organizer” in the House.
“I think that for us to actually deliver for our community, we have to be willing to organize together,” she said. “I’m always prepared to stand up for the right thing. I’m always willing to challenge power when it’s necessary, and I deeply believe that can only happen when we do it by making decisions with community.”
Reporter Phillip M. Bailey of USA TODAY contributed.
Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com or 850-599-2180.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: New York primary winner Darializa Avila Chevalier grew up in Florida
Reporting by Jeff Burlew, Tallahassee Democrat / Tallahassee Democrat
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Jeff Burlew, Tallahassee Democrat | USA TODAY Network
