{"id":248822,"date":"2026-05-30T15:22:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-30T15:22:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/248822\/"},"modified":"2026-05-30T15:22:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-30T15:22:08","slug":"mamdani-turns-back-on-another-mainstream-latino-democrat-in-ny-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/248822\/","title":{"rendered":"Mamdani turns back on another mainstream Latino Democrat in NY-13"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rep. Adriano Espaillat was already facing an unexpectedly tough Democratic primary fight<\/a> against leftist insurgent Darializa Avila Chevalier in upper Manhattan\u2019s NY-13 district.<\/p>\n

Then, Mayor Mamdani lobbed a political grenade into the race<\/a> late Thursday when he endorsed fellow DSA members Chevalier, instantly turning the June 23 race into a test of Hizzoner\u2019s popularity and boosting the challenger\u2019s chances of pulling off an upset.<\/p>\n

Espaillat, 71, a five-term incumbent, has never faced a serious reelection test<\/a>. He will now be plunged into uncharted electoral waters<\/a> during a furious 3-1\/2 week sprint to primary day as progressive voters seek to flex their muscle in a fast-changing enclave of the city.<\/p>\n

Some analysts warn Espaillat could be in for a shock<\/a>, despite his long history of winning elections in the district.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard for me to make the case against her being the favorite,\u201d said Democratic strategist Adam Carlson, ticking off demographic advantages for Chevalier. \u201cShe\u2019s running a very hungry, active campaign and he\u2019s taken his foot off the gas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Democratic strategist Chris Sosa compared Chevalier\u2019s race to Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez\u2019s shocking upset of Rep. Joe Crowley in 2018<\/a>, the last midterm in which President Trump was in the White House.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe may have an AOC situation on our hands right down to the acronym,\u201d Sosa said. \u201cIf DAC wins, that will have huge implications on the perception of incumbency in this city.\u201d<\/p>\n

The endorsement of Chevalier is a sign Mamdani is looking to flex his own political muscle<\/a> by inserting himself into a race on very friendly turf \u2014 he won 65% of the district\u2019s vote<\/a> in the general election \u2014 and seeking to show he has what it takes to boost allies into power across the city.<\/p>\n

But backing Espaillat\u2019s opponent could come with some risk for Mamdani as he tries to build greater support with Latino voters<\/a> and elected officials. It marks the second congressional race in which he snubbed a powerful Latino leader, also declining to support Rep. Nydia Velazquez\u2019s choice of Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso<\/a> to succeed her as she retires from NY-07.<\/p>\n

Political commentator Gerson Borrero called the snubs \u201crookie mistakes\u201d by Mamdani.<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cMuchas promises and a few accomplishments,\u201d tweeted Borrero, a former editor-in-chief of El Diario.<\/p>\n

But analysts predict the sniping will be quickly forgotten if Chevalier wins, and note that Mamdani waited to pull the trigger until he decided the insurgent had an excellent chance.<\/p>\n

\u201cZohran will risk personal political capital for the possibility of huge reward and movement wins,\u201d Sosa said. \u201cThat\u2019s who he promised to be, and his base loves it.\u201d<\/p>\n

NY-13 includes Harlem, Spanish Harlem, Washington Heights and Inwood, along with a slice of the Bronx. The polyglot district comprises very diverse neighborhoods that have changed dramatically<\/a> in recent years as soaring rents have displaced longtime residents and lured new residents, including many young progressives.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s one of the most heavily Democratic and progressive congressional districts in the nation. The Democratic primary winner is a virtual shoo-in to prevail<\/a> in the November general election over nominal Republican opposition.<\/p>\n

Espaillat, who was born in the Dominican Republic, ran as a fiery reformer and a voice for the rising Latino community when he narrowly won a crowded 2016 primary race to replace Rep. Charlie Rangel<\/a>, who retired amid corruption allegations. He boasts of being the only formerly undocumented immigrant<\/a> in Congress, is a reliable liberal vote in Congress, chairs the Congressional Hispanic Caucus and has built a powerful local mini-machine including other Latino state and city lawmakers.<\/p>\n

His younger proteges even concocted a catchy name<\/a> for themselves: \u201cSquadriano\u201d (a play on AOC\u2019s \u201csquad\u201d of young progressive women lawmakers).<\/p>\n

But Espaillat alienated some by backing ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo<\/a> in last year\u2019s mayoral primary over Mamdani \u2014 though he switched sides after Mamdani won the Democratic primary. He also strongly backs Israel and his stances on most issues are generally mainstream Democratic as opposed to more left-wing.<\/p>\n

Chevalier, 32, who is also Dominican, boasts of her working-class roots. She\u2019s a community activist, pro-Palestinian protest organizer<\/a> and a\u00a0 Democratic Socialists of America member like Mamdani.<\/p>\n

She makes no effort to hide her aim to be an outspoken anti-establishment voice in Washington, D.C., and has a long history of intemperate social media posts<\/a> targeting prominent Democrats as well as Republicans.<\/p>\n

Chevalier appears to be running a strong campaign. She eked out a win in fundraising for the first quarter<\/a> over Espaillat, a surprise considering his decade in office.<\/p>\n

Espaillat\u2019s campaign was jolted when a flyer supporting his reelection used a photo of a random woman<\/a> who is not Chevalier. A spokesman disavowed the flyer and countered by accusing Chevalier supporters of defacing Espaillat ads on streets.<\/p>\n

Chevalier is just one of several progressive candidates, including some backed by DSA, who are looking to leverage the young mayor\u2019s popularity<\/a> in deep-blue corners of the city.<\/p>\n

Assemblywoman Claire Valdez is considered to be running ahead<\/a> of Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso in the NY-07 district where Velazquez is retiring. Former mayoral candidate Brad Lander is favored to unseat<\/a> Rep. Dan Goldman in NY-10, which spans lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn.<\/p>\n

Interestingly, AOC, the city\u2019s other progressive powerhouse, has yet to endorse any of the 2026 crop of progressive insurgents in NYC congressional races.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Rep. Adriano Espaillat was already facing an unexpectedly tough Democratic primary fight against leftist insurgent Darializa Avila Chevalier…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":248823,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[875,128,858,95434,10881,89898,21322,75,84,83,9,24,95435,63,94723,82],"class_list":["post-248822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-manhattan","tag-adriano-espaillat","tag-bronx","tag-congress","tag-darializa-avila-chevalier","tag-democratic","tag-dominican","tag-latino","tag-manhattan","tag-manhattan-headlines","tag-manhattan-news","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-ny-13","tag-nyc","tag-progressive","tag-zohran-mamdani"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=248822"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248822\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/248823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=248822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=248822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=248822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}