Darializa Avila Chevalier's First Post-Win Interview: DSA Candidate Beats 5-Term Incumbent Espaillat

[0:00] This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org, The War and Peace Report. [0:04] I'm Amy Goodman. [0:06] Shock waves have rocked the Democratic Party nationwide as progressives and DSA candidates [0:12] endorsed by Mayor Zorhan Mamdani win big in New York. [0:17] In a major blow to the Democratic establishment, three candidates, backed by Mamdani, have [0:23] won primary races in New York City and appear to be headed to Congress. [0:28] Former New York City Comptroller Brad Lander beat Congressman Dan Goldman. [0:34] The 32-year-old Afro-Latina organizer Darielisa Avila-Chevalier pulled off a shocking defeat [0:41] of five-term Congressmember Adriano Espallat, the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. [0:48] And New York Assemblymember Claire Valdez, who's a former union organizer, defeated Brooklyn [0:54] Borough President Antonio Reynoso to fill the seat long-held by Nidia Velasquez. [1:00] Avila-Chevalier and Valdez were both backed by the Democratic Socialists of America, which [1:06] also played a key role in Mamdani's election. [1:10] DSA-backed New York State Assembly and Senate candidates also swept their races, with nine [1:17] out of ten candidates on the DSA slate winning the primaries. [1:23] Democracy Now! was at the DSA watch party for Claire Valdez and others in Brooklyn last night [1:28] and spoke to progressive streamer Hassan Piker. [2:12] Claire Valdez addressed her supporters at the end of the night. [2:17] My name is Claire Valdez, and I am proud to say that I will be your next Congressmember. [2:22] We haven't just won an election. [2:25] We have declared that this movement is durable, is growing, and that it will not stop until [2:37] working people are no longer asked to just build the table, no longer offered a seat at [2:43] the table, but will run the table. [2:52] And make no mistake, this victory is not mine, it is ours. [2:58] That's what organizing is. [3:00] It's being asked to do something big, scary, unfamiliar, something that everything inside [3:08] you says is not for you. [3:09] It can't be you. [3:12] And then you take the plunge, you find your power and solidarity. [3:17] And let's talk about what that ask has now won. [3:26] I will lead the fight against ISIS cruelty and stand steadfast alongside our immigrant neighbors. [3:38] They have been demonized, targeted, attacked, and in me they will have a champion. [3:42] I will stand steadfast alongside our trans siblings who are the beating heart. [3:59] I will continue to call for Palestinian liberation. [4:07] We will stand up to the genocide, we will refuse to abide by apartheid, and we will use our [4:13] money to improve lives here instead of destroy them abroad. [4:20] And I will do everything in my power every single day in Congress to give the labor movement [4:27] the tools it needs to be a fighting force for the entire working class. [4:30] Clara Valdez, Democratic nominee for Congress from Brooklyn and Queens. [4:38] Tuesday's biggest upset was the victory of 32-year-old Afro-Latino Muslim organizer Dottie [4:45] Elisa Avila-Chevalier, who defeated five-term Congressmember Adriano Espaillat, chair of the [4:51] Congressional Hispanic Caucus. [4:53] Mayor Mamdani addressed a roaring crowd of supporters at her watch party in Harlem last night. [5:02] This campaign began many months ago at the same park that we launched a canvas in today. [5:12] And at that time, I know that for many it may have felt like a fantasy that Dottie Elisa [5:20] would be here right now. [5:21] It was never a fantasy for her and it was never a fantasy for all of you. [5:32] You have dream into a reality. [5:35] I was asked time and again, why would I support this campaign? [5:43] I said that I can think of no better person than the daughter of a single mother caseworker, [5:56] working people her entire life, who has stood up for New Yorkers unjustly detained by ICE, [6:16] who has called for a foreign policy of investing in babies and not bonds, [6:23] of no one better than someone of clarity, of conscience, and of conviction to be the next Congressperson. [6:40] And it is because you poured your hearts into this, because you poured your hopes into this, [6:49] that we are showing there is a new path for politics in our city and in our country. [6:54] We are showing that last June, a year ago tomorrow, was not an anomaly. [7:07] It was the beginning. Join me. [7:17] Dottie Elisa Avila-Chevalier then took to the stage and addressed her supporters in Harlem. [8:53] We're joined now by the Democratic nominee for Congress in New York's 13th Congressional [9:01] District, Dottie Elisa Avila-Chevalier. She defeated five-term Congressmember Adriano Espaiat. [9:09] Welcome to Democracy Now! If you could start off by introducing yourself to the country. [9:16] Hi, Amy. Thank you so much for having me. I am a long-time listener, so it's [9:22] such an honor to be here. My first interview after winning here at Democracy Now! I am an Afro-Latina, [9:28] Dominican, daughter of immigrants. I am an organizer. I have been organizing my entire adult life [9:34] around immigration justice, around ending mass incarceration, around Palestine. And it is such an [9:39] honor to be able to have the privilege of having run a campaign that is centering working people [9:45] in this district who have for far too long just been ignored by establishment politics. And I'm so [9:50] deeply grateful to be here. It is such a surreal experience and truly so excited to get to work [9:57] and bring the values of working class people of color here in Harlem and Washington Heights and [10:01] Inwood in the Bronx into the halls of Congress. And talk about what you think are the most important [10:09] issues that you've represented. And what did it mean to you to upset, to beat this five-term [10:16] congressmember, head of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Adriano Espaillat? [10:23] You know, I am somebody who has had to think about whether I can afford to stay in the city that I love. [10:29] This is the second poorest congressional district in the state and by some measures the country. And to know [10:33] that we center the needs of this community at the heart of this campaign, where we are fighting for [10:39] housing for all to make sure that we abolish ICE and to have our tax dollars come back home to invest [10:45] in our babies here and not in bombs abroad was truly, truly at the heart of everything that our [10:52] community really needs. We have another statistic that shocks my mind every single time is the fact [10:58] that 40% of our children here are living in childhood poverty. And for us to tackle that [11:04] issue, to give our babies all the things that they need to lead dignified childhoods would mean that we [11:10] would be able to provide for every single person in this community. And, you know, we have had [11:15] representation in the past over the last nine years that has really not met those needs where these [11:21] crises have just grown. And it has been such an honor to work with a coalition with so many organizers [11:28] on the ground to build a grassroots movement that is responsive to working people here that gets to [11:34] the issues. And, you know, it was, this campaign was a lot of work. It was something that was built from [11:41] the very ground up. And in the last few weeks, it was really a difficult one because we had so many, [11:47] so much money and so many smears thrown our way. We had over $7 million in outside spending [11:55] that was being spent to smear me personally and to use incredibly racist and anti-Black rhetoric [12:01] and to know that Black residents in this district came out and supported this campaign in that context, [12:09] in a context where Voting Rights Act is being gutted, where the rights of so many are under attack, [12:14] to know that they came out despite the odds and chose these values really means the world to me. [12:21] LISA DESJARDINS- If you can talk about the attacks on you by the Espeyat camp, [12:28] around your background, talk questioning your Dominican heritage. Of course, [12:34] the Dominican Republic shares an island with Haiti. And talk about, as if to be Haitian is an epithet, [12:44] but what they were saying, this anti-Haitian rhetoric. [12:47] LISA DESJARDINS- Yeah, I mean, it was a bombardment where every time I opened any of [12:52] our social media accounts, I was inundated with rhetoric that was using the term Haitian as though [12:59] it were a slur. I was inundated with emojis of monkey and gorilla emojis, of rat emojis, [13:07] of folks asking me and my family for proof of our birth certificate and where we were born. [13:13] LISA DESJARDINS- And I just think it was really one of the ugliest types of rhetoric that I have [13:23] seen in a really long time. It really reminded me of MAGA-style politics. And it was just so shocking to [13:30] see that coming in a heavily blue district and in a district where the sitting incumbent was a Democrat. [13:36] LISA DESJARDINS- And I'm just so honored to have been able to fight against that with my team, [13:44] with my coalition, and to know that voters here in this district rejected that. To know that we [13:52] have turned a page on the politics of the past, and a politics that is in so many ways so divisive, [13:59] and a politics of just cynicism. To be able to turn the page on that and to bring forward a politics [14:06] of hope to center a message that is about a politics of life has really been such an honor. [14:13] And also showing that this is a politic that is popular and that will win. That Americans are tired [14:19] of this politics of death, the politics of cynicism, and want to make sure that our resources are coming [14:25] back to our communities and investing in the life and the needs of the people here. [14:29] LISA DESJARDINS- If you can talk about your experience, you're a Columbia alum, [14:36] you were part of, you protested the encampments, you were a part of, and you actually taught on the [14:44] West Bank. Talk about your experience as a student there and how that influenced your positions on [14:52] Palestine and Israel. [14:53] LISA DESJARDINS- Yeah, I went to undergrad at Columbia University. And [14:58] while I was a student there, I went to the West Bank. And it deeply formed a lot of my understanding [15:05] of global politics, but even my own context here in New York, where I started to see and understand [15:12] that the systems that were oppressing Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, all over Palestine, [15:19] were also informing our systems here that were having such a deep, harmful impact on so many Black [15:26] and Latino and communities of color here. And as you grow as an organizer, as a person, as you become [15:34] more educated on these systems, you start to notice that they're not just similar systems, they are the [15:40] same system. They are systems that consistently put profit over people, that consistently deny people [15:47] their human dignity for the sake of capital. And to know that we sent a very loud and clear message [15:55] yesterday that we will not allow that to continue to be the case, that we will put people first and we [16:02] will put working people at the heart of our democracy, it felt really full circle. To know that we can say [16:09] free Palestine at our party, to know that we can say what is happening in Gaza is a genocide and win [16:18] and reject the politics of AIPAC, reject the politics of big money and corporations coming into our politics, [16:25] is truly, I think, a seismic shift that is happening in our politics. [16:31] AMY GOODMAN, ATTENDEES AT YOUR VICTORY PARTY LAST NIGHT INCLUDED THE PALESTINIAN ACTIVIST MAHMOUD KHALEIL, [16:39] THE COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY GRADUATE STUDENT ORGANIZER, WHO WAS DETAINED FOUR MONTHS LAST YEAR IN AN ICE JAIL IN LOUISIANA. [16:49] Today's win is a big win. It is a big win for the world in this country. [16:55] We have ISA and D.C. represent daily struggles that this community goes into us. [17:21] CAN YOU TALK ABOUT YOUR ORGANIZING AROUND MAHMOUD KHALEIL'S DETENTION BEING HELD FOR MONTHS [17:41] AND WHAT HE SYMBOLIZED TO YOU, DARIA-LISA AVILA-CHEVALIA? [17:46] YOU KNOW, MAHMOUD IS A FRIEND, BUT I WOULD HAVE FOUGHT FOR HIM EVEN IF HE WEREN'T, [17:52] BECAUSE I HAVE BEEN FIGHTING FOR IMMIGRATION JUSTICE MY ENTIRE ADULT LIFE. IT IS SOMETHING THAT [17:57] IS DEEPLY IMPORTANT TO ME. AND WHEN I FIRST GOT THE NEWS OF HIS DETENTION, [18:02] YOU KNOW, THERE WAS THE INITIAL SHOCK OF IT ALL, BUT THERE WAS A MOMENT ALSO WHERE [18:07] MY ORGANIZER BRAIN JUST KICKED IN AND I JUST KIND OF WENT INTO AUTOPILOT, WHERE I JUST STARTED [18:13] WRITING TO MAKE SURE THAT WE WERE SPREADING THE WORD ABOUT HIS CASE AND TAKING CONTROL OF THE NARRATIVE [18:19] AS SOMEONE WHO KNEW HIM IN THAT TIME AND MAKING SURE THAT WE WERE REALLY PUTTING TOGETHER [18:27] MOVEMENT WORK THAT COULD BRING ATTENTION TO HIS CASE. AND I WAS ALREADY ORGANIZING [18:31] WITH FELLOW ORGANIZERS AROUND CIVIL DISOBEDIENTS, AROUND DIRECT ACTIONS TO BRING MORE ATTENTION TO [18:37] HIS CASE ABOUT COURT SUPPORT TO MAKE SURE THAT WE WERE SHOWING THAT HE HAS A COMMUNITY. [18:42] AND WHEN THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION SAID THAT HE WOULD BE THE BLUEPRINT OF HOW IMMIGRATION [18:48] ENFORCEMENT WOULD BE CONDUCTED GOING FORWARD, I THOUGHT IT WOULD BE VERY CLEAR TO ALL OUR [18:52] REPRESENTATIVES THE STAKES IN HIS CASE, NOT JUST AS AN INDIVIDUAL, NOT JUST ON THE FACT THAT IT [18:59] WAS BASICALLY PUNISHMENT FOR HIS ENGAGEMENT IN FREE SPEECH AROUND THE GENOCIDE THAT WAS HAPPENING [19:06] TOWARDS HIS PEOPLE, BUT ALSO BECAUSE OF THE IMPACT THAT IT WOULD HAVE ON EVERY IMMIGRANT IN THIS [19:13] COUNTRY ON THE FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS OF EVERY PERSON ON U.S. SOIL. AND TO KNOW THAT OUR [19:18] REPRESENTATIVE, THE ONE THAT WAS REPRESENTING HIM IN THAT MOMENT, THAT ALL HE COULD OFFER WERE [19:24] TWO WORDS OR TWO SENTENCES AROUND TRUSTING TRUMP'S DOJ AT A TIME WHERE TRUMP'S DOJ HAD JUST VIOLATED [19:32] RULE OF LAW BY DETATING HIM IN THE FIRST PLACE WAS DEEPLY TROUBLING. AND SO, YOU KNOW, WHEN I WAS [19:39] FIRST CONSIDERING WHETHER OR NOT THIS WAS A RACE I WANTED TO THROW MY HAT IN, I JUST KEPT THINKING [19:44] ABOUT MAHMOUD AND THE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE LIKE HIM AND NOOR WHO ARE SO FEARFUL RIGHT NOW AND WHAT IT [19:51] WOULD HAVE MEANT TO THEM TO HAVE A REPRESENTATIVE WHO WAS ACTUALLY FIGHTING FOR THEM. [19:56] FINALLY, DARIALISA VILES-CHEVALIE, YOUR PLANS FOR CONGRESS, WHEN WHAT LOOKS LIKE OVERWHELMINGLY, [20:05] GIVEN YOUR DISTRICT, YOU WILL BE ELECTED IN NOVEMBER. [20:08] I'M SO EXCITED TO FIGHT FOR THE WORKING PEOPLE OF THIS DISTRICT TO MAKE SURE THAT [20:14] WE CAN ALL AFFORD TO STAY IN THE CITY THAT WE LOVE. AND I THINK AT THE HEART OF THAT FIGHT IS [20:19] MAKING SURE THAT WE ARE CENTERING HUMAN LIFE. AND THAT MEANS THAT WE NEED TO START [20:24] DIVESTING FROM THIS WAR MACHINE AND REINVESTING OUR TAX DOLLARS HERE IN OUR COMMUNITY, [20:28] FIGHTING TO ERADICATE CHILDHOOD POVERTY, BECAUSE ALL OF THE THINGS THAT OUR BABIES NEED [20:32] ARE THE THINGS THAT EVERYONE IN OUR COMMUNITY NEEDS TO BE ABLE TO LEAD A DIGNIFIED LIFE. [20:36] AND AS I WATCHED ALL THE NEWS ACCOUNTS OF YOUR INCREDIBLE UPSET VICTORY OVER ESPAYAT, [20:43] I HEARD YOUR NAME PRONOUNCED ABOUT 40 DIFFERENT WAYS. SO I WAS WONDERING IF YOU COULD SAY FOR [20:49] THE COUNTRY IN YOUR OWN WORDS, YOUR OWN NAME. [20:53] MY NAME IS DARIALISA AVILA-CHEVALLEER. [20:56] AND I'M VERY GRATEFUL TO YOU, AMY, FOR ALLOWING ME TO DO THAT. [20:59] DARIALISA AVILA-CHEVALLEER, NEW YORK'S 13TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT DEMOCRATIC NOMINEE. [21:07] CONGRATULATIONS.