Who's running in New York's 13th congressional district
2 candidates are on the ballot. Below is what each one says they stand for, what they have actually done in office or in public life, and the arguments published for and against them — each quoted from a named source rather than summarised by us.
Medium confidenceMedium confidenceThe candidate's stated positions and basic record are documented, but coverage is thin — often little independent reporting, or criticism from only one side.What would raise it: More independent reporting, a documented voting record, or published criticism from a named opponent would raise this.
What they say they stand for
Their own words. Claims, not verified facts.
Abolishing ICE.
Reducing military spending — her campaign frames this as "babies, not bombs."
Medicare for All.
Housing for all.
Quality education.
Confronting corporate power; she argues the political establishment rewards wealthy elites, corporations and party machines over working people.
What they’ve actually done
Documented record from official sources.
Community organiser in upper Manhattan since her teenage years.
Member of the Democratic Socialists of America.
Defeated incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat in the June 23, 2026 Democratic primary, 49.4% to 45.9%.
Endorsed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Also carries the Working Families Party line on the November ballot.
Has not held elected office.
Arguments in favor
"The politics of the past ends today" — a 32-year-old community organiser running against politicians who take donations without delivering representation, with a "Babies not Bombs" platform redirecting military aid to Israel into domestic programmes.
— Darializa Avila Chevalier, reported by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
She beat a sitting member of Congress who chairs the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, 49.4% to 45.9%, against an onslaught of outside spending, with Mayor Zohran Mamdani behind her.
— Primary result reported by NBC News and Norwood News
Arguments against
She was "celebrating the death of innocent people" at a pro-Palestinian rally in Times Square on October 8, 2023, and protested carrying signs reading "Resistance is Justified when People are Occupied." She answers that this language is "dehumanizing" and that she attended because she anticipated "an outsized reaction that would cause the deaths of thousands upon thousands of people."
— Adriano Espaillat, the incumbent she defeated
Her record organising the pro-Palestinian encampment at Columbia University in 2024 makes her unfit to represent this district — the argument groups allied with Espaillat, including allies of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus he chairs, spent heavily on during the primary.
— Groups backing Adriano Espaillat, reported by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency
What we couldn’t verify
She has held no elected office, so there is no voting record to set against her campaign's positions.
No National Republican Congressional Committee page about her by name was found; the case above comes from her Democratic primary opponent and his allies.
Her positions on health care financing, taxation and immigration were not stated in material available.
What he calls Universal Capitalism: guaranteed employment, property ownership opportunities, baseline housing, health care, childcare and education, and universal access to legal counsel.
Securing the border with what he describes as data-driven local pauses when unemployment, housing shortages or displacement of working-class citizens rise; opposition to sanctuary city status.
Opposition to defunding police, alongside a full overhaul of the criminal justice system.
Voter identification requirements and the SAVE Act; he is in litigation with the New York City Board of Elections over registration procedures.
Puerto Rico statehood, following the 2024 referendum.
A two-state solution in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
What they’ve actually done
Documented record from official sources.
U.S. Army veteran; active, reserve and veteran status since 1985, at E5 non-commissioned officer grade.
Business owner; career in telecommunications, cable contracting, paralegal work and retail.
Trained at John Jay College of Criminal Justice in paralegal studies, telecommunications, graphic design and computer networking.
Won the June 23, 2026 Republican primary.
Has not held elected office.
Arguments in favor
We found none published about this candidate in the sources reviewed.
Arguments against
We found none published about this candidate in the sources reviewed.
What we couldn’t verify
No published criticism of Williams by name could be found: not from Darializa Avila Chevalier or her campaign, not from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and not from upper Manhattan or Bronx news coverage, which centred on the Democratic primary. Because no case against him exists on the record, none is presented for him either, rather than showing his own campaign's case unanswered.
His fundraising and any endorsements were not reported in material available.
This district is heavily Democratic and the general election has drawn little coverage.
Positions and criticism are quoted from the named sources, not our assessments. This is built to help you start getting informed — confirm the official candidate list with your election authority before you vote.
The Democratic incumbent, Adriano Espaillat, is not on the November ballot: Darializa Avila Chevalier beat him in the June 23, 2026 Democratic primary, 49.4% to 45.9%. Espaillat, who has held the seat since 2017, was the first Dominican American and the first formerly undocumented immigrant elected to Congress, and was the sixth House incumbent to lose renomination in the 2026 cycle. Mayor Zohran Mamdani's endorsement of Avila Chevalier was widely reported as the turning point. She faces Republican Jomo Manuel Williams in this upper Manhattan and west Bronx district. New York allows fusion voting. The 2026 elections use the congressional map enacted on February 28, 2024. Neither candidate is listed with arguments for or against here: no published criticism of either candidate by name from someone opposing them in the general election could be found, and setting out a case against one and not the other would tilt the page.
This is one contest on a longer ballot
A New York ballot also carries state legislative districts, county offices, judicial seats and often local questions — and which of them you vote on is decided by your street address, not your city or ZIP code.
Your ballot is determined by your election authority, not by us. Verify your registration, precinct, and sample ballot at New York State Board of Elections.