NY Candidate's Freebie Scandal: What’s Really Happening?
A controversial lefty New York congressional candidate is offering covered World Cup tickets to campaign volunteers — and free ice cream to early voters — seemingly running afoul of federal election laws, and potentially FIFA, The Post has learned.Experts said the freebies offered by Darializa Avila Chevalier’s insurgent campaign appear to violate Federal Election Commission guidelines that strictly prohibit rewarding volunteers with perks and offering payment, including free food, in exchange for voter turnout.“It sounds like they are paying people to vote, which is, of course, unlawful,” said Fordham Law Professor Jerry Goldfeder. The campaign for the Democratic Socialists of America challenger — who is running to unseat longtime Rep. Adriano Espaillat in New York’s 13th House District — posted the ice cream offer on Instagram Thursday.A Mamdani-backed candidate is offering freebies in what appears to be a violation of FEC guidelines and federal law.
Nathan Posner/Shutterstock“Ice cream for NY-13 early voters!” the emoji-riddled post said, with instructions: “Vote early and keep your sticker! “On Friday the 19th, come to a West, Central, or East Harlem canvass and show your sticker to one of our field leads to get a Sugar Hill Creamery token. Use the token at Sugar Hill Creamery for a free cup of ice cream!!”It adds: “*Toppings, cones, or other extras at additional expense,” along with a red heart emoji.One day earlier, Avila Chevalier, on her official campaign X account, announced that four volunteers would have the chance to win prized seats to the Panama vs. England World Cup match on June 27.“Canvass for Darializa for a chance to win prime seat tickets at the World Cup,” the post read, instructing volunteers to collect trading cards for each completed canvassing shift in exchange for entry to the raffle. Darialize Avila Chevalier is offering free ice cream in exchange for voting. instagram/darializaforny“10 cards = automatic raffle entry.”Paying or offering an expenditure or gift in exchange for voting is a federal crime. The Department of Justice defines a “payment” as anything carrying monetary value – such as free food. The FEC also sets strict rules when it comes to campaign volunteers – and makes clear that the moment an unpaid worker receives a gift or transfer of monetary value, they are no longer legally considered a volunteer by the organization. “The campaign may not pay for admission to sporting events, concerts, theater and other forms of entertainment,” states the rules page on the FEC website. It’s not clear whether Avila Chevalier’s campaign paid for both the World Cup tickets and Sugar Hill Creamery tokens, as recent transactions weren’t immediately publicly available. But the campaign promoting and offering the freebies alone could potentially violate the FEC rules.“It’s rules for thee but not for me. Either they don’t know the rules, or they don’t care,” said Chris Coffey, a partner at political consulting firm Tusk Strategies. The lefty candidate is also offering free World Cup tickets to volunteers who work 10 shifts or more. FIFA via Getty Images“Still, if the other side were giving away free impossible-to-get World Cup tickets, they would be leading protests outside of his (Espaillat’s) office,” said Coffey of Avila Chevalier’s opponent.“Candidates have to be careful when incentivizing work from volunteers through gimmicks like this,” said another Democratic operative, who declined to be named. “It comes right up to the line of the law.”The FEC declined to comment. Avila Chevalier’s campaign didn’t return requests for comment, nor did FIFA.“We’ve done token programs like this before with other community partners, including local churches,” Sugar Hill Creamery said in a statement after publication Friday.“Darializa’s campaign reached out about it. We are offering a free scoop when a token is presented by anyone who voted early. This gift is for anyone in the community who has voted early, no matter for which candidate,” a spokesperson for the ice cream shop said. “Voting is the most important form of civic participation we have, and a lot of businesses run programs like this to encourage people to show up and do the critical work of participating in our democracy.”Avila Chevalier, who has been endorsed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani in the June 23 Democratic primary, is a doctoral candidate who provides legal help as a part of her job as an investigator at the Legal Aid Society.She’s faced a recent firestorm over her resurfaced social media posts, including one calling America a “f—ing disgrace.” A recent pro-Espaillat group poll showed the incumbent leading Avila Chevalier by a thin margin of just 8 points, 35% to 27%. Election Day is Tuesday, following the nine days of early voting.
