Darializa Avila Chevalier’s speech focused on her background, her district, and a forceful anti-war, pro-housing message. She said she is the daughter of working-class Dominican immigrants, described growing up in an unaffordable city, and framed her run for Congress as part of a broader fight for justice in Upper Manhattan and the Northwest Bronx.

Main points

  • She introduced herself as a longtime Harlem and Washington Heights resident and said her family struggled financially while she was growing up.
  • She said she entered the race because people in her community nominated her and because she wanted a representative who was not “bought by AIPAC”.
  • She tied her faith journey to organizing, saying her involvement with Muslim organizers and social justice helped lead her to revert to Islam.
  • She argued that public money should go to housing and services for people in New York rather than wars abroad.
  • She criticized the conditions many New Yorkers face, including lead paint, lack of heat and hot water, and homelessness among schoolchildren.

Notable line

One of her sharpest points was that while she referenced children killed in Iran, there were also many children in New York facing homelessness, and she said those resources should be spent on “dignified lives” and education at home.

Overall message

Her speech was basically a call for moral clarity, local investment, and political leadership that prioritizes residents over donors and foreign wars.