Democratic socialist Melat Kiros has toppled Rep. Diana DeGette in Colorado’s 1st District Democratic primary, NBC News projects, in the latest victory for the insurgent left wing of the party over an entrenched incumbent this year.
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DeGette, 68, has represented the Denver-based district for three decades, having first taken the oath of office months before Kiros, 29, was born. Ssupport for progressive policies like “Medicare for All” and abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement, while pointing to her role as an impeachment manager during President Donald Trump’s 2021 Senate trial after the riot at the U.S. Capitol.
But that wasn’t enough to stave off Kiros, part of a wave of democratic socialists who have found success this primary season in deep-blue parts of the country and are seeking to redirect the future of the Democratic Party.
DeGette is the seventh House member to lose renomination this election cycle and the third in seven days.
Kiros, a lawyer by trade who immigrated from Ethiopia as a baby, was endorsed by prominent progressive figures and groups, including Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., the Democratic Socialists of America and Justice Democrats.
Her campaign caught fire among Denver Democrats this year, and her strong showing at the party’s convention almost cost DeGette a spot on the ballot. Kiros argued that despite DeGette’s progressive credentials, she wasn’t adequately addressing the sense of urgency required by the current political moment, with Democrats out of power in Washington and Trump trying to bend the federal government to his will.
Addressing convention delegates in March, Kiros recounted how her father told her they were Democrats because the party “fights for the people.”
“The party didn’t just wake up and decide to do the right thing — it was pushed by organizers, by dreamers, by people who refused to accept the world as it was, and with everything at stake right now, it’s on us to push the party again,” Kiros said. “And not just to fight back against Trump, to fight for a better world.”
Kiros is a lawyer by trade who says she was fired after she criticized how law firms addressed protests in the wake of Hamas’ 2023 attack on Israel. She framed the law firms as being unnecessarily dismissive of pro-Palestinian protesters by labeling ‘“calls for the elimination of the Israeli state’ as anti-Semitism.’”
It’s just one example of how Israel policy has loomed large in the race. Kiros, like allies who have won a handful of prominent Democratic primaries this cycle, has called for “an immediate and unconditional arms embargo on Israel,” as well as “ending all funding to Israel’s military” to create a “just and lasting peace grounded in the equal human rights of all people in the region.”
Kiros was recently pressed by NBC affiliate KUSA of Denver about her comments that Hamas’ attack on Israel was “the inevitable consequence of apartheid.” In the interview, she wouldn’t say whether a firebombing attack on demonstrators in Boulder, Colorado, who gathered to support Israeli hostages was antisemitic.
Outside groups rushed to DeGette’s defense in the final stretch of the race, largely to tout her liberal credentials. Some ads also attacked Kiros’ “extreme agenda,” while DeGette’s campaign sought to portray Kiros as too far outside the mainstream by highlighting her controversial comments.
Kiros’ victory comes one week after two New York City Democrats dethroned incumbents in their primaries, while a third progressive won a key open-seat race. All three winning candidates were endorsed by New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who kick-started the trend of democratic socialist success last year.
Kiros will be heavily favored to win the general election this fall in the solidly Democratic 1st District.
Anti-Washington sentiment surfaced in Colorado’s statewide primaries as well. State Attorney General Phil Weiser defeated Sen. Michael Bennet for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, while Sen. John Hickenlooper prevailed in his primary, but with less than 60% of the vote after facing a tough challenge from the left.
Colorado’s primaries also set the stage for one of the fall’s marquee House races. In the 8th District based in suburban Denver, which Trump narrowly carried in 2024, state Rep. Manny Rutinel won the Democratic primary to take on Republican Rep. Gabe Evans.
Manny Rutinel, 31, emphasized his family’s immigration story and willingness to fight back against Trump in a district with a significant Hispanic population. The two-term legislator was the top fundraiser in the race, where his leading opponent was former state Rep. Shannon Bird, and raised his profile in part with an aggressive social media strategy.
In the southwestern part of the state, Republican Rep. Jeff Hurd fended off a primary challenge from former state Rep. Ron Hanks in a rematch of the 2024 primary. Hanks has been a vocal proponent of the false claims about the 2020 election, and marched with Trump supporters to the U.S. Capitol ahead of the Jan. 6, 2021 riot.
Hurd originally secured Trump’s endorsement, before the president rescinded it after the congressman backed a resolution to block some of the tariffs on Canada. Ultimately, Trump re-endorsed Hurd, though.
