A democratic socialist House candidate who has participated in anti-Israel demonstrations has been accepting campaign cash from firms whose technology has been used to monitor protesters.
Darializa Avila Chevalier, who is looking to unseat five-term incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat, received a $1,500 donation from Rami Sarafa, Board of Elections records show.
Sarafa is CEO of Cordoba Advisory Partners, a wealth management and private equity firm.
Cordoba created an investment vehicle, Datamnr Preferred Secondary LLC, to buy preferred shares in Dataminr, an AI “risk intelligence” company whose tools have been used by police to monitor Black Lives Matter protests and Gaza solidarity demonstrations.
Other Cordoba investment vehicles channel client money into cryptocurrency and blockchain ventures such as Blockchain Access VC I LLC.
Sarafa also donated $10,000 to New Yorkers for Lower Costs Super PAC, which backed Zohran Mamdani for mayor last year, and the candidate also donated $150 to Mamdani’s campaign account.
Chevalier’s filings also show about $150 in donations from a Palantir engineer, Aidan Duffy, who works on the company’s controversial Foundry platform, which the Trump administration used to collect data on Americans.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement also uses Palantir tools to identify immigrants prioritized for deportation.
Chevalier’s campaign had no immediate comment.
The 13th congressional district includes Harlem, East Harlem, West Harlem, Hamilton Heights, Washington Heights, Inwood, Marble Hill, and the north-west Bronx.
Espaillat, 71, who is seeking a sixth term, has deep ties in the district, particularly Washington Heights/Inwood.
But Chevalier is waging a formidable challenge with the backing of left-wing groups, including the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America and Justice Democrats.
Her campaign released an internal poll late last month claiming she only trailed Espaillat 42% to 28% ahead of the June 23 Democratic Party primary.
Espaillat has the backing of major unions and Democratic Party heavyweights including state Attorney General Letitia James.
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