{"id":318746,"date":"2026-06-24T23:18:29","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T23:18:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/318746\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T23:18:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T23:18:29","slug":"new-york-primary-winner-darializa-avila-chevalier-grew-up-in-florida","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/318746\/","title":{"rendered":"New York primary winner Darializa Avila Chevalier grew up in Florida"},"content":{"rendered":"

One of the left-of-center congressional candidates who scored big wins in New York City’s Democratic primaries<\/a> with the backing of Mayor\u00a0Zohran\u00a0Mamdani\u00a0has strong ties to Florida, Tallahassee and Leon County Schools.<\/p>\n

Darializa\u00a0Avila Chevalier defeated a five-term incumbent, Rep.\u00a0Adriano\u00a0Espaillat, for New York\u2019s 13th Congressional District, which encompasses parts of Harlem, Washington Heights,\u00a0Inwood\u00a0and the Bronx.<\/p>\n

She was one of three\u00a0Mamdani-endorsed\u00a0challengers<\/a> who defeated more mainstream candidates, including another incumbent, sending\u00a0shockwaves\u00a0through the party establishment.<\/p>\n

Her campaign website describes her as a \u201cworking-class Dominican New\u00a0Yorker\u00a0who has been organizing in upper Manhattan for a fairer, more equitable and more affordable New York City since she was a teenager.\u201d She’s also a Democratic socialist who vowed not to “back down” to President Donald Trump.<\/p>\n

Avila Chevalier, 32, spent parts of her early years in the Dominican Republic and Florida and moved to New York 14 years ago\u00a0to attend Columbia University.\u00a0Before moving to the Big Apple, she was known as an outstanding student at Rickards High School, where she graduated in 2012.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a huge deal for our city, for our state and definitely for the school district,\u201d Gayle said.<\/p>\n

\"Democratic<\/p>\n

Democratic congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier speaks during the “Our Team, Our Year” Get Out The Vote (GOTV) rally at the Kings Theatre in Brooklyn, New York, on June 18, 2026.<\/p>\n

Gayle added that the district\u2019s vision and mission is to prepare kids to be leaders, though not necessarily in elected office.<\/p>\n

\u201cBy 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,\u201d she said. \u201cIt makes me think about our vision and our mission coming to life by what our scholars … continue to do positively shape their community.\u201d<\/p>\n

Avila Chevalier also made an impression on the congregation at Capital City Church of Christ, where she was a member.\u00a0Dontaye\u00a0Carter of Atlanta recalled working with her when he was serving as a youth ministry leader and attending Florida A&M University.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was always super-smart, highly intelligent,\u201d he said. \u201cWhen she went to Columbia, that didn\u2019t surprise me. She was always joking, laughing, playing. But again, this was back when she was in high school.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Darializa<\/p>\n

Darializa Avila Chevalier, who graduated in 2012 from Rickards High School in Tallahassee, is shown in her yearbook photo during her junior year. Avila Chevalier won the Democratic primary June 23, 2026, for a congressional seat representing parts of New York City.<\/p>\n

He said he was \u201cproud and happy\u201d not just for her victory but because of the issues she supports, including women’s and voters rights.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt 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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

‘I won’t back down to Trump’<\/p>\n

The\u00a0Mamdani\u00a0slate<\/a>, which also included Brad Lander and Clair Valdez, favored abolishing\u00a0U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and labeled Israel’s actions in Gaza a genocide.<\/p>\n

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\u00a0Reynoso\u00a0for a seat left open by retiring Rep.\u00a0Nydia\u00a0Velazquez.<\/p>\n

But Avila Chevalier, pulled off what was perhaps the most impressive victory of the night. The doctoral student and community organizer\u00a0defeated\u00a0Espaillat, head of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, by about 4 percentage points.<\/p>\n

\"From<\/p>\n

From left, congressional candidate Claire Valdez, congressional candidate Brad Lander, Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier raise their hands during a Get Out the Vote rally on June 18, 2026, in New York City.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

“The same billionaires that attacked\u00a0Zohran\u00a0Mamdani\u00a0are now spending millions against me,” Avila Chevalier said in an ad responding to the attacks. “They know that, unlike\u00a0Adriano\u00a0Espaillat, I can\u2019t be bought and I won\u2019t back down to Trump.”<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

“I think that for us to actually deliver for our community, we have to be willing to organize together,” she said. “I\u2019m always prepared to stand up for the right thing. I\u2019m always willing to challenge power when it\u2019s necessary, and I deeply believe that can only happen when we do it by making decisions with community.”<\/p>\n

Reporter Phillip M. Bailey of USA TODAY contributed.<\/p>\n

Contact Jeff Burlew at jburlew@tallahassee.com or 850-599-2180.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Mamdani-backed New York primary winner has Florida roots<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"One of the left-of-center congressional candidates who scored big wins in New York City’s Democratic primaries with the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":318747,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[132459,132458,28,2324,30,29,3704,132457,14592,6688,64954,17601],"class_list":["post-318746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-florida","tag-adriano-espaillat","tag-avila-chevalier","tag-florida","tag-florida-am-university","tag-florida-headlines","tag-florida-news","tag-leon-county-schools","tag-michelle-gayle","tag-new-york-city","tag-president-donald-trump","tag-rickards-high-school","tag-zohran-mamdani"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=318746"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/318746\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/318747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=318746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=318746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=318746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}