A Mamdani-backed progressive’s challenge to a veteran Democrat highlights party fractures | CNN Politics

The divides between the Democratic old guard and a new class of progressive challenger were on sharp display on Tuesday night as a congressional candidate in New York’s 13th District apologized for past disparaging remarks about Kamala Harris. “To Vice President Kamala Harris, I sincerely apologize,” Darializa Avila Chevalier, the 32-year-old democratic socialist endorsed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, said during a heated debate when pushed by her opponent, incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat. “You did not deserve that language from me. And I would’ve loved to have seen a Black woman president. As a Black woman, I know how much that would’ve meant to so many, including myself.” CNN’s KFile previously reported on Avila Chevalier’s now-deleted tweets critical of Democratic leaders, including posting “F**k Kamala Harris” after the then-vice president told Guatemalan migrants in September 2021 not to come to the United States illegally. Mamdani-backed congressional candidate deleted posts calling to seize private property, abolish police, borders, prisons The progressive candidate previously told CNN that the now-deleted tweets don’t represent who she is t