CBC Is Endorsing Rep. Adriano Espaillat
The CBC, through its PAC, has officially endorsed Rep. Adriano Espaillat over his primary challenger, Darializa Avila Chevalier, in New York’s 13th District. This marks a notable shift given that the caucus once rebuffed Espaillat’s efforts to become a member.
CBC Chair Rep. Gregory Meeks praised Espaillat as embodying the type of leadership the caucus has long supported, highlighting his focus on making New York City more affordable for working families. Meeks framed Espaillat’s work on housing and cost-of-living issues as rooted in lived experience and a strong commitment to economic justice and civil rights.
The endorsement is striking because of the CBC’s historically rocky relationship with Espaillat, who is the first Dominican American and first formerly undocumented immigrant to serve in Congress. He angered some CBC members years ago through failed attempts to unseat the late Rep. Charles Rangel, a founding member of the caucus, in 2012 and 2014.
After Rangel’s retirement, Espaillat ran again for the seat and defeated Keith Wright, whom Rangel had informally tapped as his successor and who had the CBC’s support at the time. Once in Congress, Espaillat sought to join the CBC while belonging to the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, but his membership request was denied.
Espaillat identified as Afro-Latino during his campaign, yet former CBC Chair Karen Bass later suggested the refusal had less to do with ethnicity and more with a specific unresolved conflict. Bass declined to detail that conflict, leaving the exact reasons for his exclusion publicly unexplained.
The new endorsement suggests that any past tensions have been set aside, at least publicly. Espaillat responded with gratitude, calling the backing from the CBC PAC especially meaningful given his background as a formerly undocumented immigrant and his alignment with the caucus’s mission.
He emphasized the CBC’s long-standing role in advancing economic opportunity and social justice for Black and other marginalized communities, positioning himself within that tradition. Representing a district spanning Upper Manhattan and parts of the Bronx, he framed the endorsement as validation of his work on behalf of those communities.
The article questions whether this institutional support will sway voters in a climate where progressive challengers are increasingly targeting moderate incumbents. Avila Chevalier, a 32-year-old Afro-Latina and pro-Palestine organizer known for leading Columbia University’s 2024 protest encampment, argues Espaillat is disconnected from constituents’ daily struggles.
She criticizes him for accepting contributions from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and the real estate industry. In her campaign messaging, she contrasts federal spending on overseas conflicts with the local realities of New Yorkers struggling to pay for rent and groceries.
Espaillat is portrayed as a moderate Democrat facing the broader wave of left-leaning primary challenges that have emerged in New York politics. He is one of several incumbents, along with Reps. Ritchie Torres, Dan Goldman, and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, now under pressure from progressive contenders energized by recent electoral wins.
The piece ends by framing the race as part of the larger drama of the upcoming midterms, where ideological divides within the Democratic Party will be tested. The CBC’s endorsement of Espaillat, after years of fraught history, becomes one early signal of how establishment institutions are choosing to position themselves in those fights.
