Democratic socialist Melat Kiros has unseated long-serving U.S. Representative Diana DeGette in Colorado's primary elections, the latest in a string of high-profile victories for the party's insurgent left. The Associated Press reported that Kiros defeated DeGette for the Democratic nomination in the deep-blue first congressional district centered on Denver. Kiros's triumph virtually ensures her election in November in the solidly Democratic district.
Background on Kiros
Kiros, 29, was born in Ethiopia in 1997—the year DeGette arrived in Congress—and graduated from law school at the University of Notre Dame in 2022. The following year, she wrote a blogpost rejecting accusations that law students who protested against Israel's counterattack after October 7 were antisemitic. The New York law firm where Kiros was working fired her after she refused to take the post down, prompting her to enter politics.
After announcing her run for Congress, Kiros secured endorsements from progressive Senator Bernie Sanders, as well as the Democratic Socialists of America and Justice Democrats, progressive groups involved in New York's primaries. Justice Democrats praised Kiros for having "built a movement that inspired Denverites to remember they themselves have the power to transform what kind of Democratic Party they want to be represented by." Alexandra Rojas, the group's executive director, added: "Melat and our candidates continue winning this cycle because Democratic voters are finally getting leaders acting on their demands to bring the fight to the corporations raising our prices, the war lobbies profiting off endless war & genocide, and the immigration gestapo terrorizing our communities."
Campaign Issues and Controversies
Kiros made concerns about U.S. support for Israel prominent in her campaign. In an interview with Colorado Public Radio (CPR), she accused Israel of carrying out a genocide in Gaza and called for the United States to impose an arms embargo. DeGette opposes providing offensive arms to Israel but told CPR that she believes Israel has a right to exist and defend itself.
DeGette's campaign criticized comments Kiros made in a recent interview, including a refusal to say whether she considered a 2025 firebombing attack on pro-Israel demonstrators in Boulder, Colorado, to be motivated by antisemitism. "I don't know what was in the heart of the perpetrator," Kiros told 9News. "All I know is that he went and attacked innocent people because of what they might have believed. I don't even know what the people that were at that protest believed, too." Kiros also said in the interview that she viewed the 9/11 attacks as "inevitable" for the United States "in that we destabilized a lot of the Middle East, that forced people to believe that an act of violence was the only response."
Broader Colorado Election Results
Anti-Washington sentiment coursed through Colorado's elections on Tuesday. In the race to replace term-limited Democratic Governor Jared Polis, Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser edged out U.S. Senator Michael Bennet, according to the Associated Press. Though Bennet, who has represented Colorado in the Senate since 2009, had entered the race as an early favorite, Weiser scuppered his campaign by accusing him of not taking a hard enough line against Donald Trump's cabinet nominees.
In the state's most competitive House district, progressive state Representative Manny Rutinel defeated a more moderate Democrat, according to the Associated Press, to face Republican Congressman Gabe Evans in November. Evans is considered vulnerable, and the seat is among a handful of congressional districts across the country that could determine control of the House. Meanwhile, incumbent Senator John Hickenlooper fended off a progressive challenge from state Senator Julie Gonzales to win renomination. He will face Republican nominee Mark Baisley, a state senator who ran unopposed.
