New York socialist congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier is openly advocating for socialism heading into the midterms — and she’s not hiding it.
The Democrat candidate mentioned the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) during an interview Friday on ELR News with Kevin Ortega-Rojas, where she laid out her vision for what she calls “black socialism.” The DSA has emerged as an increasingly influential force within progressive circles over the past decade, endorsing and supporting candidates who embrace democratic socialist principles. The organization advocates for policies including Medicare for All, the Green New Deal, and major expansions of the social safety net.
“I think with DSA specifically, something that I’m very excited to do is to build black socialism within the caucuses of DSA.”
Chevalier continued: “Something that my team and I were very intentional about we’re making sure that we weren’t just talking about socialism broadly, that we were talking about the legacy of socialism in our district, right? A legacy of black socialism, Latino socialism, that focused on racial justice as economic justice.”
Her framing represents a strategic approach to selling socialist ideology by tying it to identity politics and community-specific historical narratives. The strategy reflects a broader trend among progressive candidates who attempt to make traditional socialist economic theory more palatable by connecting it to racial and social justice movements. This messaging approach has proven effective in certain urban districts where concerns about systemic inequality and economic disparity resonate strongly with voters.
House Speaker Mike Johnson recently warned against the socialist push from Democrat candidates — and highlighted exactly where this path leads. Johnson’s comments come as Republican leadership has increasingly focused on the ideological direction of the Democratic Party as a central campaign issue.
“Karl Marx believed and he taught and said, socialism is a step toward communism,” Johnson said. “Communism is anti-American. It’s the opposite of our ideals. We’re one nation under God. Communism begins with a premise that there is no God. The state is the god effectively.”
Johnson pointed to the 20th-century track record: Soviet Russia, Communist China, Venezuela, the Eastern Bloc. “It never works and it ends in poverty, destruction, political violence, human suffering,” he said. His historical references underscore the Republican argument that socialist policies, regardless of how they are branded or marketed, inevitably lead to economic collapse and authoritarian government control.
“When you go out on the campaign trail and you promise free stuff to people, young people, that’s a siren song to them. That sounds great to them. No one is telling them they have to give up their freedom in exchange.”
Johnson added a warning about the broader trend: “These insurgent left candidates are winning the Democrat primaries all across the country. The barbarians are inside the gate. It’s very, very serious stuff.” His rhetoric reflects growing alarm among Republican leaders about the mainstreaming of socialist ideology within Democratic Party politics, particularly among younger candidates and voters.
Chevalier has a history of promoting far-left ideology. She previously hyped communism, Marxism, and Soviet figures in social media posts that have since been deleted. She also recently claimed she was focused on the general election while traveling to Uruguay to meet with fellow leftists. The deletion of past social media posts raising concerns about transparency and whether candidates are attempting to moderate their public image while maintaining more radical positions privately.
The push for socialism within the Democrat Party is gaining traction. More than half of Democrats now hold a more positive view of socialism than capitalism, according to a recent CBS News/YouGov poll. This polling data represents a dramatic shift in Democratic voter sentiment compared to previous generations, when socialism was widely rejected across the political spectrum. The trend suggests that younger voters, in particular, have become more receptive to socialist messaging, often viewing it as a solution to concerns about wealth inequality, healthcare costs, student debt, and climate change.
The ideological divide over economic systems has become one of the defining fault lines in American politics, with implications that extend far beyond individual congressional races. Chevalier’s candidacy represents a test case for whether explicitly socialist candidates can win in competitive general elections, or whether such positioning remains viable only in heavily progressive primary contests.
Chevalier faces voters in the general election this November.
Democrat Darializa Avila Chevalier says she wants to bring "black socialism" to Congress.
These far-Left Democrats want to abolish the police, prisons, and the border. pic.twitter.com/xB9PjpSJJs
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) September 4, 2026
