In a move that should surprise no one, the latest DSA candidate to likely win a seat in Congress is in a relationship with someone who defended some of Osama Bin Laden’s closest friends in court. Darializa Avila Chevalier, the Democratic nominee for New York’s 13th Congressional District, is in a relationship with Ramzi Kassem, the chief legal counsel to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.
Chevalier, 32, defeated longtime Rep. Adriano Espaillat in last month’s Democratic primary, winning about 49.4% of the vote in the heavily Democratic district covering Harlem and parts of the Bronx. An Afro-Latina community organizer, Ph.D. student at the City University of New York, and daughter of Dominican immigrants, Chevalier has never held elected office. She built her political profile through immigrant rights advocacy, anti-police brutality activism, and organizing on college campuses. Mamdani endorsed her campaign.
Kassem, 48, is a law professor at the City University of New York School of Law and director of its Immigrant and Non-Citizens Rights Clinic. Earlier this year, Mamdani appointed him as the mayor’s chief legal counsel, noted The Washington Free Beacon. He has spent much of his legal career representing terrorism detainees and immigrants in high-profile cases.
Among Kassem’s former clients was Ahmed al-Darbi, a Saudi national who pleaded guilty in 2017 to charges stemming from his role in planning terrorist attacks, including the 2002 bombing of the French oil tanker MV Limburg. Kassem also represented Shaker Aamer, a Saudi-born British resident who spent more than 13 years at the U.S. detention facility at Guantánamo Bay before being released in 2015 without criminal charges. Aamer has maintained that his detention was unjust. Kassem has also handled numerous immigration and detainee cases through his legal clinic and related advocacy work.
According to Chevalier, the couple met around 2019 outside an ICE detention facility while working to secure the release of someone they believed had been unjustly detained. Their professional relationship developed into a friendship before becoming a romantic relationship around 2023. They now live together in Harlem and have publicly identified as Muslims who share support for pro-Palestinian causes and opposition to certain immigration enforcement policies.
Chevalier said Kassem has been “a loving, supportive partner” and “a refuge” during recent years. She asked that their privacy as a couple be respected.
A spokesperson for Mayor Mamdani confirmed that the mayor has known about the relationship for some time and discussed Chevalier’s congressional campaign with Kassem before deciding to endorse her.
Chevalier will face the Republican nominee in November’s general election for the safely Democratic congressional seat.
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