Over the past two years, pro-Palestine protesters at Columbia University have faced a security crackdown, academic sanctions, attacks by politicians from both major parties and a deportation campaign.

Now, large parts of the school’s New York City campus will likely be represented in the United States Congress by an activist who helped organise the protests against Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza.

When Darializa Avila Chevalier, draped in a keffiyeh, first announced her candidacy in November of last year, few outside her immediate circle knew her name.

But her message was clear: she presented herself as an organiser working to unite families torn apart by the immigration system and against “what we all know is a genocide in Palestine”.

On Tuesday, Avila Chevalier – who was backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani – won the race to unseat veteran Congressman Adriano Espaillat, securing the Democratic nomination in one of the biggest upsets of the election cycle.

The victory of Avila Chevalier and other candidates endorsed by the democratic socialist mayor shows the waning popularity of pro-Israel politics in Democratic circles, advocates say.

“Last night was a political earthquake in New York City, and the Democratic establishment has been put on notice,” said Beth Miller, the political director at the advocacy group Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) Action.

“What we’ve shown is that unapologetic support for Palestinian freedom is not just the moral position, it is the path to victory for progressive candidates.”

Three primary victories

Two other Mamdani-backed candidates also prevailed in US congressional races on Tuesday.

Brad Lander, a former city comptroller who opposes military aid to Israel, defeated the staunchly pro-Israel incumbent, Dan Goldman, and Claire Valdez, a democratic socialist state legislator, won the nomination for an open seat.

Both winning nominees are running in safe Democratic seats and are expected to comfortably win in the general elections in November.

On the local level, voters also elected several vocal critics of Israel, including Aber Kawas, who is well on her way to becoming New York’s first Palestinian state senator.

“What we’re seeing is a real transformation in what is acceptable and what is desirable in American politics,” said Heba Gowayed, a sociology professor at the City University of New York (CUNY).

Gowayed told Al Jazeera that Tuesday’s results – especially Avila Chevalier’s victory against a well-connected incumbent – represent a major defeat to the “cynical establishment politics that perceives criticism of Israel as a nonstarter”.

“Americans have gone to the polls and said we don’t want this s*** anymore,” she said.

The professor emphasised that – similarly to Mamdani – the progressive candidates who won in New York did so because of – not despite – their advocacy for Palestinian rights.

Iman Abid, the political director of the US Campaign for Palestinian Rights Action (USCPR Action), also hailed the victory of Avila Chevalier and Valdez.

“In New York tonight, the anti-Palestinian political establishment is breaking down before our eyes,” Abid said in a statement. “Bold progressives who are fighting for justice – for workers’ rights, affordable rent, immigrant rights, and a free Palestine—have won their primaries.”

Beyond New York

Public opinion polls show that support for Israel has been nosediving in the US, particularly amongst Democrats.

So advocates are confident that the results in New York can translate into further victories for the Palestinian rights movement across the US.

They point to the success of pro-Palestine candidates in this election cycle, including Chris Rabb in Pennsylvania and Adam Hamawy in New Jersey.

Rabb paid tribute to the win of Avila Chevalier and Valdez on Tuesday.

“Darializa knows we need to invest in babies not bombs, immigrants over ICE & renters not real estate developers,” he wrote on X.

“Together in Congress, we’re gonna take on the DC establishment & deliver for working families across the country!”

The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and other pro-Israel groups have been spending tens of millions of dollars to defeat progressive candidates.

But Miller said standing up to AIPAC, embracing calls for Palestinian freedom, and calling for a “full end to US complicity and Israeli apartheid and genocide” is proving to be a winning message in Democratic primaries.

When the pro-Palestine winning candidates join the next Congress early in 2027, they will widen the emerging crack in the bipartisan consensus over unconditional support for Israel on Capitol Hill.

However, despite the election of Congress members critical of Israel and the shift in public opinion over the past decade, US policy has remained mostly aligned with the Israeli government across Democratic and Republican administrations.

Gowayed said it will take time to move policy, but she stressed that the elections in New York demonstrated that change is possible.

“The reason why I feel so good is because we’re really against a machinery that is entrenched, that is extremely well funded, and that is long lasting,” she told Al Jazeera.

Miller echoed that assessment. She said the winning candidates this cycle not only increase the number of legislators who support Palestinian rights, but also send a message to other politicians that “this is a winning message”.

“So, my hope is that in the next Congress we can move significantly closer to actually blocking bombs and weapons to Israel,” she said. “We should really raise the ceiling of what we believe is possible.”