Darializa Avila Chevalier Faces New Scrutiny Over Deleted Posts After NY-13 Primary Upset
Darializa Avila Chevalier’s surprise win in New York’s 13th Congressional District is becoming a national political flashpoint after CNN reported that deleted posts from her old Twitter account included favorable references to communism, Marxist ideology and authoritarian communist figures.
Chevalier, a Democratic socialist backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, defeated incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat in the June 23 Democratic primary. NY1, citing the Associated Press, reported that Chevalier had 49.4% of the vote to Espaillat’s 45.9% with more than 86% of expected ballots counted.
The controversy matters because Chevalier is not merely a protest candidate. She is now the Democratic nominee in a heavily Democratic New York district covering parts of Upper Manhattan and the Bronx. If she wins in November, she would enter Congress as part of a growing bloc of democratic socialist-aligned candidates challenging the party’s establishment wing.
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CNN said its KFILE review found deleted posts from Chevalier’s old account referencing communism and Marxist ideology. The network also reported that Chevalier has said she has grown considerably since those posts. When asked about President Donald Trump calling her a communist, she said she would not be reactive to that framing.
Chevalier’s own campaign biography emphasizes immigrant-rights organizing, public-defense work, housing advocacy, union membership and her affiliation with NYC Democratic Socialists of America. Her campaign says she will not take money from corporate PACs, AIPAC or corporate real estate interests.
The immediate consequence is political, not legal. Republicans can use the resurfaced posts to argue that Democratic candidates are moving toward the far left, while Democratic leaders face pressure to decide whether to defend, distance themselves from or ignore nominees whose old online records may become national attack material.
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