Newly minted socialist congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier abruptly walked out of a radio interview Tuesday after being pressed about controversial social media posts that, at times, overshadowed her campaign against New York Democratic Rep.Adriano Espaillat.Just hours after dramatically ending the live interview with Spanish-language station La Mega, Avila Chevalier won her race to unseat Espaillat in New York's 13th Congressional District, a heavily blue-leaning seat covering parts of Manhattan and the Bronx.
Her victory is a major upset that ousted a five-term incumbent and chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus.Avila Chevalier, backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), didn't want to face questioned on primary Election Day about her about past comments and now-deleted social media posts.AOC COASTS TO PRIMARY WIN AS QUESTIONS SWIRL ABOUT POLITICAL FUTURECongressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier speaks during a Get Out the Vote rally at King's Theater in New York City on June 18, 2026.Sen.
Bernie Sanders and Mayor Zohran Mamdani campaigned alongside her and other candidates ahead of the Democratic primary and early voting.(Michael M.
Santiago/Getty Images)The candidate, who now goes onto the general election in November where she will almost assuredly win a seat in Congress, has faced growing scrutiny in recent weeks over archived posts.She criticized Democratic leaders, called for abolishing police and prisons, opposed deportations and made inflammatory remarks about U.S.
institutions and foreign policy.She also helped lead protests against the Israel-Hamas war at Columbia University and was part of a campus group that later called for "Death to America."Another source of backlash has been Avila Chevalier's past remarks about Dominican nationalism, including posts in which she said she did not display the Dominican flag on her social media profile because she viewed nationalism as "v...