Photo: Darializa Avial Chevalier, candidate for US Congress for Washington Heights, NY, by A Lo Claro and Indhira Baez, Wikimedia
I am a union man. I pay dues to two unions, one for retirees and one for my current job at a supermarket.
New York City is a union town, and unions lean the region left into, I daresay, socialism.
The retirement system that pays my pension is partly under the control of the New York City Comptroller. The current mayor is Zohran Mamdami, an admitted Democratic Socialist. So a Democratic Socialist administration affects my pension. My pension check clears, so… So far, so good.
It’s not surprising to me that socialists and progressive candidates have won primaries in states where unions are strong. That explains DSA (Democratic Socialists of America) victories in Michigan, where one of the strongest unions is the UAW (United Auto Workers).
Some years ago, the UAW began recruiting workers in New York’s arts, theater, and academic industries. One of these UAW members is Darializa Avila Chevalier, a Columbia University grad student, who just won the Democratic primary for a congressional seat.
My own retirees’ union backed Avila Chevalier’s opponent and incumbent Adriano Espaillat, another Dominican-American from the same Washington Heights neighborhood. Because it’s a safe congressional district, no Republican candidate will emerge to defeat her.
Therefore, my union will likely back Avila Chevalier in the November 2026 election. I suspect the two other DSA congressional candidates in New York City will also receive backing from my union and many other unions as the only alternatives will be Republican.
And so, the left wing of the Democratic party looks to grow stronger in 2027.
