Breaking news, John:

Today, Justice Democrats is making our fifth 2026 Democratic primary endorsement: Darializa Avila Chevalier in New York’s 13th district!

This is our first endorsement in New York City since Zohran was elected mayor, and we’re so excited to take his momentum to Washington.

Darializa is a working-class, Afro-Latina, and UAW member who has been organizing in upper Manhattan for a fairer, more equitable, and more affordable New York City since she was a teenager.

She’s taking on corporate- and AIPAC-backed incumbent, Rep. Adriano Espaillat, who endorsed Andrew Cuomo over Zohran Mamdani in the city’s mayoral race. Next year, it’s time for Espaillat to join Cuomo in retirement.

Rush a contribution of any amount directly to Darializa’s campaign now →

Raised by working-class, Dominican immigrant parents, Darializa witnessed loved ones struggle with immigration issues, socioeconomic inequality, and structural racism. These lived experiences shaped her worldview and deepened her commitment to organizing for a better future.

As an undergraduate at Columbia University, Darializa participated in a summer abroad program in Nablus, in the West Bank of Palestine, where she learned Arabic and taught English to Palestinian children living in refugee camps nearby.

After returning to campus in New York, she began organizing for a free Palestine, and as an alumna, was a lead organizer of the encampment on Columbia’s campus in 2023-2024. In the encampment, Darializa and her fellow organizers stood in solidarity with Palestinians and urged Columbia to divest its endowment from companies profiting from Israel’s genocide and apartheid system.

Darializa also organized to help free U.S. permanent resident Abdikadir Mohamed from his 1.5 year ICE detention caused by Trump’s 2017 ‘Muslim ban,’ fought against family separation as an organizer at Families for Freedom, and then became an investigator for the public defender’s office in Harlem.

Darializa’s leadership is rooted in community organizing and the belief in equity and justice for her community in upper Manhattan and the West Bronx. She knows they deserve better — and she won’t stop organizing until that promise becomes reality.

Adriano Espaillat, on the other hand, is the epitome of an out-of-touch member of the Democratic old guard and NYC political machine who needs to be replaced in Congress:

• He’s served in elected office since 1997 and will show up for press conferences and photo-ops, but is completely absent when his diverse working-class community needs a champion in Washington to fight for them, or to stand up for their rights as ICE kidnaps New Yorkers from their cars and homes.
  
  
• His largest donor last year was AIPAC, and he has consistently enabled Israel’s atrocities in Congress, voting to send the IDF billions of dollars for Israel to commit its genocide in Gaza.
  
  
• His second largest source of donations comes from the real estate industry. In a district where 88% of residents do not own a home, Espaillat is in the pocket of developers who are actively raising rents and pushing working-class people out of the city.

NY-13 is one of the youngest congressional districts in the country, and voted for Zohran by nearly 20 points in this month’s general election! It’s clear: voters in upper Manhattan are seeking a new generation of progressive leadership, and we can deliver that with Darializa.

If we take the momentum from Zohran’s game-changing victory and direct it into this race, we can unseat an AIPAC stooge and replace him with a working-class, pro-Palestinian organizer and fighter for justice.

But we can’t do it without you, John, so please: pitch in $5 or whatever you can to become a founding donor of Darializa’s grassroots campaign on Day 1!

Contribute $5

In solidarity,

Alexandra Rojas
Executive Director