Shapiro Distances Himself From Democratic Socialist Candidate, Calls for Party Debate Over Its Future

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro acknowledged Sunday that he has “profound differences” with Democratic congressional candidate Darializa Avila Chevalier, stopping short of urging voters to oppose her while suggesting the Democratic Party is headed for a broader debate over its direction.
During an appearance on CNN’s State of the Union, Shapiro was asked by anchor Dana Bash about Chevalier, an anti-ICE, anti-Israel democratic socialist who recently won her Democratic primary in New York City.
Before asking whether Shapiro supported the candidate, Bash highlighted several of Chevalier’s positions.
“She called for the abolition of prisons, open borders, end to deportations — even people convicted of violent crimes,” Bash said. “She attended a pro-Palestinian rally on October 8th, 2023, a rally that reportedly featured some real anti-Semitic rhetoric justifying the attack. How do you feel as a Democrat about someone with those views being in the United States Congress?”
Shapiro responded by emphasizing that Democratic voters in Chevalier’s district selected her as their nominee while making clear that he does not share many of her positions.
“Look, her district voted for her,” Shapiro said. “But I have profound differences from that particular candidate, based on the citations that you read there. And she’s not someone, you know, who seemingly I would agree with on many things, or that we share similar values.”
He noted that Chevalier ran on the Democratic ticket while identifying as a socialist and said the voters in her district made their choice.
“She ran on the Democratic ticket, I guess as a socialist, [and] her voters in that district determined that she was the one they wanted representing her,” he said.
Bash then asked what Chevalier’s primary victory says about the Democratic Party as a whole.
Shapiro argued that Democrats are entering a period of internal debate that he believes is overdue.
“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,” he said. “To have a battle over the ideas that we are going to hold on to and campaign on, and then deliver on as a way to make people’s lives better.”
He added that he expects Democrats to spend the next year defining the party’s priorities before uniting.
“I expect our party, over the course of this next year or so, to go through a battle about what we believe in — and then come out unified in a way that we can take the fight to the other side and really deliver for the American people,” Shapiro said.
Shapiro’s comments come after Chevalier was among several candidates backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani who prevailed in their primary races.
Chevalier and fellow candidate Claire Valdez are members of the Democratic Socialists of America, as is Mamdani. Another victorious candidate, Brad Lander, is a former DSA member who left the organization following its response to the October 7 Hamas terror attack in Israel.
Lander nevertheless received Mamdani’s endorsement after running as a more critical voice on Israel than incumbent Rep. Dan Goldman. Lander has claimed that American support for Israel made the United States “complicit in genocide.”
The three candidates also share Mamdani’s position that ICE should be abolished.
Their victories drew praise from Mamdani following election night, but also sparked concern among some establishment Democrats. According to the article, one centrist House Democrat told Axios that having the candidates in Congress would create a “headache” for the party in 2027.
Others also voiced concern. Bill Maher said Democrats would “blow” the midterm elections if they embrace what he described as “crazy” socialists, while James Carville urged congressional Democrats to distance themselves from any socialists who enter Congress.
President Donald Trump also weighed in, sarcastically congratulating Mamdani on getting “3 solid Communists” elected before later warning that communists had begun making “their move” in the United States.
“The game is on,” Trump said. “Enjoy watching!”
Trump has continued criticizing socialism in recent weeks, including during his Fourth of July speech, when he described communism as a “cancer” that must be dealt with as soon as possible.