Darializa Avila Chevalier, a democratic socialist candidate, pulled off a surprise primary win in New York this week — a result that has drawn sharp criticism from longtime Democratic strategist James Carville.
Avila Chevalier, who was backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, won Tuesday night’s primary in New York’s 13th Congressional District. Known for her work in “community organizing,” she has also faced scrutiny over past controversies, including her role in founding a college group that advocated for the “total eradication of Western civilization.”
Carville addressed the outcome Thursday during an interview with NewsNation, where he was asked about the success of several far-left candidates in New York races.
Although Carville sought to temper broader alarm by noting that the discussion largely centered on three New York seats, he made clear that he believes Avila Chevalier does not belong within the Democratic Party’s ranks.
“Two of ‘em I don’t think are even Democrats. This Chevalier lady, I don’t — they should not seat her in the caucus. Her views are totally against anything that any Democrats have. We believe in pluralism, she doesn’t believe in interracial dating,” he said.
“I don’t think there’s a place in the party. I’m not, by the way, I’m not sure she wants to be a Democrat. Go do something else! Form your own party!”
NewsNation host Elizabeth Vargas pressed further, pointing to Avila Chevalier’s calls to abolish ICE and the police, halt all deportations, and her past characterization of veterans as war criminals, among other positions. Vargas then asked, “Who is this person?”
“She is not a Democrat, okay?” Carville replied. “That is pretty clear, and frankly, I think a lot of Democrats feel like I do. I don’t have any power, just an old washed-up consultant, but I wouldn’t seat her! This is not who we are!
“And we should just say, look, you’re duly elected, have your seat in Congress, but you would not be getting any committee assignments when the Democrats got the majority.”
He noted another commentator had observed that many politicians that hate the Democrats nonetheless run as part of their party.
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“Why do you want to run as a Democrat?” he responded. “Start your own movement! If it’s such a powerful, sweeping movement that’s got more momentum everywhere, then go ahead, be at the head of it, don’t use the Democratic Party to advance it. We don’t have any interest in it.”
Vargas went on to note that there is a rising tide of antisemitism and anti-Israel sentiment within the Democratic Party, asking Carville whether he agrees with Rep. Dan Goldman that this development represents a hazard to democracy itself.
“It’s disgusting, OK? And you’ve got to be careful not to conflate two things,” he warned.
“You can be hugely ‘anti-’ the policies of the government of Israel, which I would describe myself as one, but when you say ‘I don’t think Israel should exist,’ then I don’t have room for ya.”
“I have all the room in the world to criticize Israeli policies, to criticize the settlements — which I think are stupid and ignorant to start with, and they continue to be. You can criticize whether they reacted strategically to October the 7. That’s all fine. That’s all fine,” he said.
Where he draws the line, he said, is when a person is against the concept of Israel’s existence or is against Jewish people themselves as a group.
“You’ve got no place at my table, I can tell you that,” he said of such people. “But I think the smart political move is not to seat these people.”
When pressed on whether many left-wing people are representatives of the modern Democratic Party, Carville argued again that while they have the right to speak their mind, they should not identify themselves as Democrats.
“Just don’t invoke the name of the Democratic Party in doing that, because you’re really hurting the United States in the end,” he said.
Vargas juxtaposed Carville mentioning the more establishment Democratic agenda, as opposed to the far-left sentiments of “abolish everything and, you know, ‘free Palestine.’”
“Insane,” Carville said of those who espouse those ideals. “I’ve got no time for these people.”
