Adriano Espaillat

The Democratic primary victory of Darializa Avila Chevalier, the progressive likely to represent New York City’s Upper Manhattan in Congress, has rocked perceptions of the party in and around the region.

Her upset of five-term Representative Adriano Espaillat, a more established Democrat with a record of progressive initiatives, blurred some politicians’ view of the party as increasingly moderate ahead of the midterm elections. Republicans swept the 2024 general elections partly through their attacks on unpopular liberal policies.

Among those positions was persistent criticism of Israel, which responded to Hamas’s October 7th terrorist attacks with a relentless offensive. Some high-profile protesters, like Darializa Avila Chevalier, extended that judgment to people who hadn’t fully denounced Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war.

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, a Jewish Democrat, has endured progressive pushback on his views of Israel and his broader policy platform. Asked about left-wing forces like Chevalier late last month, he told CNN that “profound differences” could push the disliked Democratic Party to a necessary conversation on its path forward.

“I think what our party has to go through, that will be very healthy and something we’ve not really done since the 1992 election cycle, is to have a battle over what we believe in, to have a battle over the ideas that we are going to hold onto and campaign on, and then deliver on as a way to make people’s lives better,” Shapiro said.