Mao Zedong, one of the icons of the Democratic Socialists of America, once wrote that a revolution is not a dinner party. But at a Harlem bar on Tuesday night, where supporters of representative-elect Darializa Avila Chevalier gathered to celebrate their latest electoral triumph, it looked very much like one.
The congresswoman-elect stood center stage, wearing a white dress and draped in a keffiyeh. She delivered her somewhat lengthy victory speech entirely in Spanish, only afterward repeating her words in English. In translation, she said that she had defeated “corporate PACs and lobbyists” because her election effort was “not a machine, it was people.” That people-powered campaign was bolstered by $845,000 from the Justice Democrats PAC and $500,000 from the anti-Israel American Priorities PAC, as well as individual donations from a variety of wealthy donors.
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This summer, Chevalier, a close ally of Mayor Zohran Mamdani, narrowly prevailed over longtime incumbent Adriano Espaillat for the Democratic nomination for New York’s 13th electoral district. She did so in spite of a history of controversial positions and statements, including demanding the abolition of prisons, endorsing the seizure of private property, and even writing that she “forgot to get napkins so I just wiped my hand on the American flag behind me.” Before her career in politics, Chevalier helped found Columbia University Apartheid Divest, the campus group that proudly calls on members to “undermine and eradicate America” by using “resistance in Gaza [to create] unrest and violence in America.”
Despite, or perhaps because of, these statements, Chevalier won the general election handily, with 88 percent of the vote. In her, New York has elected not just another member of the democratic socialist “squad,” but perhaps its most extreme representative yet.
At Harlem Tavern, a few blocks from Chevalier’s alma mater, DSA members filed in as the polls closed to celebrate a great night for their movement. The bar was decorated for a revolution, complete with a photo booth. Attendees, mostly twenty-somethings, were clad in keffiyehs over Barbour jackets. Stickers and pins were available for guests, bearing slogans like “Abolish ICE,” “babies not bombs,” and “corporate PAC money? I don’t know her.” Others promised that “the 1% is in shambles” and “my landlord is so mad right now.”
The walls offered a more expansive statement of the movement’s politics: “Free Palestine,” “tax the rich,” “no funding for war crimes,” “fund schools not weapons,” and “we will beat the billionaires.” Smaller sheets of paper carried QR codes inviting guests to join the DSA; attendees wore shirts and hats with similar messages. Similar offers to join the New York Democratic Party were absent.
One attendee I spoke to said he was a close friend of Chevalier’s boyfriend, Ramzi Kassem. Kassem, now Mamdani’s chief legal counsel, made his name representing Al-Qaeda terrorists in court.
While happy to be friends with Kassem, the friend had little time for the Democratic party. “Tonight Chevalier wins, and tomorrow we get rid of Hakeem Jeffries,” he told me.
I met a few door knockers and DSA members. They were young, many barely out of college, but there was nothing particularly amateurish about the operation. They had maps, assignments, field directors, and the quiet confidence of people who believed they were building something. A large map of NY-13 draped one wall with a sign that said, “place a pin wherever you helped organize.”
One DSA member and field director told me that he didn’t work for the money and has no plans to work for Chevalier, as he has another job. He knocked on thousands of doors for over a year: “I just wanted to help her win.”
Speakers from Chevalier’s team took turns addressing the crowd, first in Spanish and then in English. There were the familiar chants: abolish ICE, free housing. Whenever Palestine was mentioned, the applause was louder than for any other topic.
Ilona Duverge, Chevalier’s campaign manager, noted that she previously worked for Jamaal Bowman’s failed primary race in 2024, when the incendiary incumbent was ousted by pro-Israel challenger George Latimer. “Even though we lost then, it paved the way for tonight.” Duverge announced that she will serve as Chevalier’s chief of staff. “We made AIPAC’s money toxic,” she shouted above a roaring applause.
There was little ambiguity about what the assembled crowd wanted. They wanted a transformed America: one without ICE, billionaires, private health insurance, or tuition bills. They wanted to defeat the establishment, and they believed they were well on their way.
How they will accomplish these goals is anyone’s guess. But on Tuesday night in Harlem, at least, the revolution was in high spirits.