A low-turnout election in New York City paved the way for a minority of voters to help deliver victory to a socialist backed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
“Five-term incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat was defeated in the Democratic primary Tuesday night in what political observers are calling a stunning upset by newcomer Darializa Avila Chevalier — a political earthquake not just for New York City politics, but also for the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, which Espaillat chairs,” CBS News reported.
All three of Mamdani’s progressive picks won their races Tuesday night, and two, including Avila Chevalier, defeated incumbent Democrats. Avila Chevalier was pushed over the finish line thanks to just 7% of the voters who turned out for New York City’s congressional primaries.
BREAKING: Rep. Espaillat concedes. Mamdani-backed socialists have officially gone 3/3 and won all of their respective Democratic primaries for U.S. House in New York tonight. Their positions are some of the most extreme & far left Dems have seen:
Darializa Avila Chevalier… pic.twitter.com/Fal1lHmair
— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) June 24, 2026
“The overall low turnout — roughly 17% of Democratic voters citywide — came as Avila Chevalier and two other Mamdani-backed House primary winners captured a mix of high-earning, young, white and black voters, analysts found,” the New York Post reported. “Insiders also credited the Democratic Socialists of America’s formidable field operations for turning out voters who’d back Mamdani’s preferred candidates — setting the stage for a potential party takeover by the DSA.”
The brainwashing education of our youth is complete. https://t.co/t1RHzLt1om
— Queendode 🇺🇸🇺🇸🏆 (@Queendode) June 25, 2026
“This was the red wedding, and the victims of the red wedding were the Democrats,” political analyst JC Polanco told the Post.
“It’s a hostile takeover by the Democratic Socialists of America, who have demonstrated that they have the organization to win primaries where there is no voter turnout,” Polanco, a professor at the University of Mount Saint Vincent, added. “In some of these districts, nobody votes; it’s a very small turnout, and the Democratic Socialists of America come in and win. They’ve taken over the party locally.”
Election data cited by the outlet showed Avila Chevalier drew around “33,000 votes from 449,000 active voters in the 13th House District,” many of them college-educated, non-Hispanic voters.
Last night’s big wins for Mamdani-backed candidates were driven by young college grads, often at odds with the party’s traditional working-class & minority base.
In NY-13, the less Hispanic and more college-educated a district, the more likely it was to vote for the challenger. pic.twitter.com/udibSzP1Jq
— Steve Rattner (@SteveRattner) June 24, 2026
“Avila Chevalier swept white voters — 68% to Espaillat’s 39%, according to VoteHub, a nonpartisan political media organization. White residents represent just 15% of the district, Census data shows,” according to the Post. “The community organizer and doctoral candidate also won 55% of the vote in heavily black precincts, compared to her opponent’s 45%, VoteHub found.”
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida. Powers also contributes to BizPac Review.
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