US Representative - District 13
Darializa Avila Chevalier
Won the June 23, 2026 Democratic primary, defeating incumbent Adriano Espaillat.
Where they stand
Immigration enforcement and legal status
Wants to abolish U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and dismantle the deportation system, expand pathways to citizenship, and guarantee free legal representation for immigrants.
Israel, Gaza and U.S. military support
Wants to end U.S. support for Israel, which she describes as an apartheid state committing genocide in Gaza, and supports legislation to limit the sale, transfer and export of U.S. weapons and defense services to Israel.
Housing costs and public housing
Treats housing as a human right: wants to fully fund Section 8 vouchers and the New York City Housing Authority, protect all tenants, prevent deed theft and build affordable housing.
Background
An investigator at the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem and a sociology doctoral candidate at the City University of New York, she was raised in Florida by Dominican immigrant parents and moved to New York to attend Columbia University.
- Investigator at the Neighborhood Defender Service of Harlem, a public defender office
- Doctoral candidate in sociology at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, studying how the U.S. immigration system criminalizes Black immigrants from Latin America
- Has taught college courses at CUNY Lehman College, Columbia University and New York University
- Former organizer with Families for Freedom, which supports families facing deportation proceedings
- Organizing lead on Zohran Mamdani's 2025 mayoral campaign, serving as its NY-13 field lead
- Organizer at the Columbia University Gaza Solidarity Encampment
- Member of the NYC Democratic Socialists of America and of UAW Local 2325
- B.A. in Middle Eastern studies, Columbia College, 2016
- Dominican-American and Muslim; describes herself as Afro-Latina
- Announced her campaign for Congress in November 2025
- Won the June 23, 2026 Democratic primary with 36,292 votes (49.5%)
Support
Zohran Mamdani
Mayor of New York City
Keith Ellison
Attorney General of Minnesota
Jamaal Bowman
Former U.S. Representative for New York's 16th District
Robert Jackson
New York State Senator
Julia Salazar
New York State Senator
Money
$1.4M
raised
$222K cash
cash on hand
Outside money: $1.9M supporting · $1.5M opposing
Others running for US Representative - District 13