While many in the party are jumping on board the far-left train to full-on socialism, a few holdouts continue to see room in the party for so-called moderates.
And Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro is perhaps the best example, setting the stage for what is expected to be a future White House bid.
In the aftermath of widespread primary-election success for leftist candidates, Shapiro made it clear that he’s not on board with the party’s leftward lurch.
As The Hill reported, he expressed “profound differences” with one candidate in particular:
Darializa Avila Chevalier defeated five-term Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D), the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, in Tuesday’s primary for his seat in New York’s 13th Congressional District.
It was a win for New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D), a fellow democratic socialist who has successfully backed several progressives in their bids to unseat incumbent Democrats.
Shapiro, who has been mentioned as a potential 2028 presidential candidate, told CNN’s Dana Bash that he did not align with the views of Avila Chevalier, who has faced heavy criticism for past rhetoric regarding Israel, support for abolishing the police and other farther-left policy positions.
“She’s not someone who seemingly I would agree with on many things or that we share similar values,” the governor said. “She ran on the Democratic ticket, I guess, as a socialist. Voters in that district determined that she was the one they wanted representing her.”
Chevalier’s radical agenda has fueled much more backlash from both parties on social media:
Every Democratic congressional candidate should be asked if they agree with James Carville that Darializa Avila Chevalier should not be steamed in the Democratic caucus which would mean she also would not get a committee assignment. According to Just the News: “
Long-time…— Newt Gingrich (@newtgingrich) June 26, 2026
Here’s the full post from the former GOP speaker of the House:
Every Democratic congressional candidate should be asked if they agree with James Carville that Darializa Avila Chevalier should not be steamed in the Democratic caucus which would mean she also would not get a committee assignment. According to Just the News: “
Long-time Democratic strategist James Carville is urging the party not to seat Darializa Avila Chevalier, winner of the Democratic primary this week for New York’s 13th Congressional District, in the House Democratic Caucus if she wins in November.
“They should not seat her in the caucus. Her views are totally against anything that any Democrat has. We believe in pluralism,” Carville told NewsNation on Wednesday, adding that she “is not a Democrat,” according to The Hill.
ADVERTISEMENTAvila Chevalier was one of three New York City area socialists running for U.S. Congress that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani endorsed, all of whom won their primary.
Avila Chevalier defeated five-term incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat, the chair of the Hispanic Caucus, which has more than 40 members, coming from both parties.
Translation: "I'm a dirty commie who has been in college for 14 years with nothing to show for it."
— Great Lion (@greatlion76) June 25, 2026
💥NEW: James Carville: “I actually do think it's time for Democrats to talk the S word: ‘Schism’ … there's just some sh*t that I can't be in the same tent with … I'm done … I don't want to be in a political party that denies the right of the state of Israel to exist.” pic.twitter.com/O5ATLyvXwV
— Jason Cohen 🇺🇸 (@JasonJournoDC) June 25, 2026
Avila Chevalier, an anti-American activist who just won New York State Senate District 13, is an American of Dominican descent. She wants the abolition of police, prisons, and borders, as well as the seizure of private property and the nationalization of industries. She converted… https://t.co/ImyodnvIWW pic.twitter.com/hldkQNy3nr
— I Meme Therefore I Am 🇺🇸 (@ImMeme0) June 24, 2026
But a rejection of socialism isn’t the only evidence that Shapiro seeks to position himself as the face of a dwindling moderate wing in his party.
As Breitbart recently reported:
In a Monday episode of GZERO Media, Shapiro claimed that Democrats are the party of “real freedom,” including allowing parents to make their own decisions about vaccines for their children.
ADVERTISEMENT“I think Democrats are the party of real freedom, real freedom that allows women to make decisions over their own bodies, allows parents like me and my wife, Lori, to make decisions over what vaccines our kids are going to be able to get,” Shapiro said.
His remarks are notable because parental authority over vaccine decisions has become one of the defining issues of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement. Kennedy and his supporters have repeatedly argued that families, rather than government officials, should have the final say over medical decisions involving their children.
Discussing vaccines in an interview in March, Kennedy said, “I’m a freedom-of-choice person. We should have transparency. We should have informed choice, and if people don’t want it, the government shouldn’t force them to do it.”
Here’s a clip of Shapiro’s recent remarks:
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