Darializa Avila Chevalier, 32, won Tuesday's Democratic primary in New York's 13th Congressional District, backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, and faces intensifying scrutiny over her founding role in Columbia University Apartheid Divest — a campus activism group that published a since-deleted post declaring its goal to be "the total eradication of Western civilization."
Who Is Avila Chevalier
Born in Florida to Dominican immigrants, Avila Chevalier built her career around community organizing and graduated from Columbia University. She converted to Islam in recent years. Her own campaign biography, published in the independent outlet The Electronic Intifada, states that she "helped launch" the boycott, divestment and sanctions campaign known as CUAD at Columbia.
In May 2024 — eight years after graduating — she returned to campus during the school's encampment protesting Israel's military campaign, appearing in a keffiyeh and a t-shirt bearing CUAD's name. She was interviewed by the Associated Press at the encampment, which police later dispersed.
The CUAD Posts and the Backlash
Months after her campus appearance, CUAD drew widespread condemnation after posting that the group stood "in full solidarity with every movement for liberation in the Global South" and that its "Intifada is an internationalist one — fighting for nothing less than the liberation of all people." The post also included the declaration against Western civilization. Columbia University has formally denounced CUAD and stated it has no affiliation with the school.
Avila Chevalier also drew criticism for deleted social media posts in which she called the United States "a f---ing disgrace" and described wiping her hand on an American flag. Senator John Fetterman, Democrat of Pennsylvania, posted on X Wednesday evening: "Anti-Israel. Anti-America. Anti-Western Civilization. Why am I the only Democrat in the U.S. Senate that refuses to excuse this or defend any of those self-identified communists?"
Path to Congress
Avila Chevalier's primary win came as Mamdani-backed socialist candidates swept several New York City races, cementing the mayor's role as a significant force in local Democratic politics. The 13th Congressional District is a heavily Democratic seat, making her the strong frontrunner in November's general election. Fox News Digital contacted her campaign for comment; no response was reported by publication time.