Darializa Avila Chevalier, a Democratic Socialist who has advocated abolishing the police and prison systems and ending deportations, has been elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.
Chevalier, 32, celebrated a decisive victory Tuesday night in New York’s 13th Congressional District, which includes Harlem and parts of the Bronx.
The activist has faced scrutiny over past statements and policy positions, including her call for the United States to eliminate all border enforcement.
Chevalier has also endorsed “ending policing full stop,” referred to Joe Biden as a “rapist and war criminal,” and argued that deporting undocumented immigrants convicted of crimes in the United States is “unconstitutional.”
She won Tuesday’s election with 87.5 percent of the vote, defeating Republican challenger Jomo Williams, who received 11.4 percent.
Chevalier joined fellow left-wing candidates Claire Valdez and Brad Lander in winning House seats in New York City, signaling a significant shift toward the left in the nation’s largest city.
Wearing a Palestine-inspired keffiyeh around her neck, Chevalier celebrated at a Harlem tavern as supporters gathered to cheer her victory.
She is now set to become one of the most prominent socialists in Congress. Four other candidates linked to the Democratic Socialists of America also won House seats in the midterm elections.
New York City socialist Darializa Avila Chevalier, 32, who has called for abolishing the police and prisons, won a landslide election to Congress
Chevalier, a Democratic Socialist backed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani after her primary victory in June, won the House seat decisively Tuesday night
Chevalier has sought to distance herself from some of her most controversial positions and past remarks. In 2021, she wrote that “a world without borders, just like a world without prisons or police, is possible, necessary, and the only moral way forward.”
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That statement was among dozens of contentious social media posts she deleted after beginning her congressional campaign.
In social media accounts removed during the campaign, Chevalier said she hoped society would eventually have “no more police at all, ever.”
She has also backed “abolishing the border” and called for the government to seize landlords’ properties and redistribute them. Critics have additionally condemned comments she made about interracial relationships.
In other posts, she wrote that Black and Arab men in relationships with white women “fetishize ugly colonizer women.”
When challenged on her previous call to abolish the border, Chevalier replied: “Yes literally abolish the border, all deportation is wrong.”
She also faced backlash after joking about wiping her dirty hands on the American flag and has previously described the United States as a “disgrace.”
Chevalier was arrested during an anti-Israel protest in September
During the 2024 election cycle, Chevalier repeatedly called Joe Biden a “rapist” and “war criminal.” She had also previously written that “the pyromania associated with anarchism is very intriguing to me.”
Asked by Vanity Fair during the campaign how the justice system should handle violent offenders convicted of murder, Chevalier gave a vague response that did not clearly indicate whether she believed they should be imprisoned.
In a podcast appearance during the final weeks of the campaign, Chevalier also said she believed deporting undocumented immigrants convicted of crimes in the United States was “unconstitutional.”
Chevalier’s election to Congress drew national attention on a night when Democrats won races across the country, making her one of the most prominent progressive figures in American politics almost overnight.