Darializa Avila Chevalier, a 32-year-old Democratic Socialist who has called for the abolition of policing, prisons and border enforcement, has been elected to the US House of Representatives in New York.
Chevalier secured 87.5 per cent of the vote in the 13th Congressional District, which includes Harlem and the Bronx, defeating Republican challenger Jomo Williams, who received 11.4 per cent.
Her victory makes her one of the most prominent socialists in Congress and follows a series of controversial statements and policy positions that have drawn scrutiny during her campaign.
Chevalier has previously supported “ending policing full stop” and written that she hoped to see “no more police at all, ever”. She also said in 2021 that “a world without borders, just like a world without prisons or police, is possible, necessary, and the only moral way forward”.
Several of her social media posts were deleted after she began her congressional campaign. In other posts, she supported “abolishing the border” and, when challenged on the issue, replied: “Yes literally abolish the border, all deportation is wrong.”
During a podcast appearance in the closing weeks of the campaign, Chevalier said she believed it was “unconstitutional” to deport illegal immigrants convicted of crimes in the United States.
She has also called for landlords’ properties to be seized and transferred to the government. Other deleted posts included comments about interracial relationships, in which she wrote that black and Arab men with white women “fetishize ugly colonizer women”.
Chevalier has attempted to walk back some of her most extreme positions and previous remarks. She has also faced criticism for joking about wiping dirty hands on the American flag and for describing the United States as a “disgrace”.
During the 2024 election cycle, she repeatedly described Joe Biden as a “rapist” and “war criminal”. She also wrote that “the pyromania associated with anarchism is very intriguing to me”.
Asked during the campaign what should happen to violent offenders convicted of murder, Chevalier gave what was described as a vague answer when questioned about whether they should be imprisoned.
She celebrated her victory at a tavern in Harlem, wearing a Palestine-inspired keffiyeh around her neck as supporters cheered her name.
Chevalier was backed by New York mayor Zohran Mamdani and joined fellow far-left candidates Claire Valdez and Brad Lander in winning House seats in New York City.
Four other candidates linked to the Democratic Socialists of America also won House seats in the midterm elections, underlining the leftward shift represented by the results in the city.
