Another Blow to Democratic Establishment as Melat Kiros Unseats 30-Year Incumbent in Colorado
“We won tonight, but this is also something so much bigger than this moment,” said Kiros, a 29-year-old democratic socialist.
Democratic congressional candidate Melat Kiros speaks to supporters at an election-night watch party on June 30, 2026 in Denver, Colorado.
(Photo by Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images)
Jake Johnson
Jul 01, 2026
COMMON DREAMS
Melat Kiros, a 29-year-old democratic socialist and first-time candidate, defeated 15-term incumbent Rep. Diana DeGette on Tuesday in Colorado’s 1st Congressional District primary, the latest signal that progressive momentum and backlash against the Democratic establishment are spreading nationwide.
“We won tonight, but this is also something so much bigger than this moment,” Kiros, who was fired from the law firm Sidley Austin in 2023 for speaking out in support of Palestinian rights demonstrators, told backers late Tuesday after The Associated Press called the race in her favor. “We believe that fundamental change can, and will, happen if we fight for it—if we organize, if we show no fear in standing up for what’s right. That is the message that Denver has sent to both parties, to Donald Trump, and to the entire country.”
Kiros’ upset win came a week after a series of progressive victories in New York congressional primaries, which sparked backlash from the party’s corporate wing. Days after the New York contests, more than a dozen centrist Democrats signed an open letter declaring that “we are capitalist, not socialist,” a clear rebuke of insurgent progressives.
Justice Democrats, a national progressive group that backed Kiros, said it is having its “most successful cycle to date, winning six Democratic primaries and proceeding to the top two in two California primaries.” The organization recruited Darializa Avila Chevalier, who upset five-term incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat in New York’s 13th Congressional District last week.
“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 and genocide, and the immigration gestapo terrorizing our communities,” Alexandra Rojas, Justice Democrats’ executive director, said in a statement Tuesday.
Kiros—whose platform includes Medicare for All, universal childcare, and abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement—prevailed despite a last-minute torrent of super PAC spending in support of DeGette. Drop Site reported that “super PACs funded by AIPAC and major big tech donors have poured roughly $2 million behind Rep. Diana DeGette on the eve of her contentious primary.”
“Across the country, voters are rejecting corporate politics and electing candidates willing to take on billionaire influence, confront the climate crisis, fight for working people, and speak with moral clarity on the defining issues of the moment,” said the youth-led Sunrise Movement following Kiros’ win.
Kiros will be the heavy favorite to win the general election in November, when she will face Republican Christy Peterson.
Progressives also celebrated Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser’s Democratic gubernatorial primary win over US Sen. Michael Bennet, whose campaign received nearly $3 million in support from billionaire former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
“This movement is what democracy looks like,” Weiser told supporters late Tuesday. “You all sent a very clear message: The future of Colorado will not be decided by out-of-state billionaires, by corporations or special interests. Colorado’s future belongs to all of us.”
“We won tonight, but this is also something so much bigger than this moment,” said Kiros, a 29-year-old democratic socialist.
Democratic congressional candidate Melat Kiros speaks to supporters at an election-night watch party on June 30, 2026 in Denver, Colorado.
(Photo by Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images)
Jake Johnson
Jul 01, 2026
COMMON DREAMS
Melat Kiros, a 29-year-old democratic socialist and first-time candidate, defeated 15-term incumbent Rep. Diana DeGette on Tuesday in Colorado’s 1st Congressional District primary, the latest signal that progressive momentum and backlash against the Democratic establishment are spreading nationwide.
“We won tonight, but this is also something so much bigger than this moment,” Kiros, who was fired from the law firm Sidley Austin in 2023 for speaking out in support of Palestinian rights demonstrators, told backers late Tuesday after The Associated Press called the race in her favor. “We believe that fundamental change can, and will, happen if we fight for it—if we organize, if we show no fear in standing up for what’s right. That is the message that Denver has sent to both parties, to Donald Trump, and to the entire country.”
Kiros’ upset win came a week after a series of progressive victories in New York congressional primaries, which sparked backlash from the party’s corporate wing. Days after the New York contests, more than a dozen centrist Democrats signed an open letter declaring that “we are capitalist, not socialist,” a clear rebuke of insurgent progressives.
Justice Democrats, a national progressive group that backed Kiros, said it is having its “most successful cycle to date, winning six Democratic primaries and proceeding to the top two in two California primaries.” The organization recruited Darializa Avila Chevalier, who upset five-term incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat in New York’s 13th Congressional District last week.
“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 and genocide, and the immigration gestapo terrorizing our communities,” Alexandra Rojas, Justice Democrats’ executive director, said in a statement Tuesday.
Kiros—whose platform includes Medicare for All, universal childcare, and abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement—prevailed despite a last-minute torrent of super PAC spending in support of DeGette. Drop Site reported that “super PACs funded by AIPAC and major big tech donors have poured roughly $2 million behind Rep. Diana DeGette on the eve of her contentious primary.”
“Across the country, voters are rejecting corporate politics and electing candidates willing to take on billionaire influence, confront the climate crisis, fight for working people, and speak with moral clarity on the defining issues of the moment,” said the youth-led Sunrise Movement following Kiros’ win.
Kiros will be the heavy favorite to win the general election in November, when she will face Republican Christy Peterson.
Progressives also celebrated Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser’s Democratic gubernatorial primary win over US Sen. Michael Bennet, whose campaign received nearly $3 million in support from billionaire former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
“This movement is what democracy looks like,” Weiser told supporters late Tuesday. “You all sent a very clear message: The future of Colorado will not be decided by out-of-state billionaires, by corporations or special interests. Colorado’s future belongs to all of us.”
Diana DeGette loses primary race to upstart Democratic Socialist Melat Kiros
Bennito L. Kelty
July 1, 2026
RAW STORY
Democratic Socialist Melat Kiros beat long-time congresswoman Diana DeGette (D-CO) (Melat Kiros for Congress)
Rep. Diana DeGette (D-CO), who has served in Congress for nearly 30 years, lost a heated primary race on Tuesday night to Melat Kiros, a lawyer and Democratic Socialist.
The race was called by NBC News and Bloomberg's Decision Desk HQ, with Kiros taking home more than 49 percent of the vote.
DeGette's loss is the latest in a series of high-profile incumbent lawmakers ousted by candidates representing more extreme or progressive wings of their respective parties. So far, eight U.S. House incumbents have been denied renomination this cycle (including DeGette), along with two senators, according to Sabato's Crystal Ball. At the state level, 22 Democratic incumbents have lost their primary races compared to 76 Republican incumbents, according to data from Ballotpedia
On the Democratic side, Reps. Dan Goldman and Adriano Espaillat of New York lost their primaries to progressive challengers Brad Lander and Darializa Avila Chevalier. Republican incumbent Sens. John Cornyn of Texas and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana are two long-serving lawmakers who lost their primaries to Trump-endorsed candidates.
By Andra Turner - I contacted the photographer directly and received the image and CC-BY-SA licensing via written permission., CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=194042469
July 01, 2026
ALTERNET
In one of the most notable upsets of the Democratic primaries so far, Democratic Socialist Melat Kiros, 29, yesterday won the nomination over incumbent Rep. Diana DeGette to represent Colorado’s hotly-contested First Congressional District.
I expect to see more stories about how the Democratic Socialists of America are taking over the Democratic Party. In New York last week, nine of 10 candidates endorsed by the DSA won primaries for the state Legislature and Congress. All three Democratic Socialist insurgents Mayor Zohran Mamdani backed for Congress prevailed. Two of them defeated incumbents.
Democratic Socialist elected officials now include U.S. representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib (both elected in 2018), New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani and Seattle mayor Katie Wilson (both elected in 2025). Democratic Socialist Janeese Lewis George is set to follow as mayor of Washington, D.C.
In 2025, over 250 DSA members held elected public office across 40 states, with 90 percent of them elected after 2019.
Pundits eager to declare a new movement or sound the alarm about socialism are having a field day.
But they’re wrong.
Voters who have supported these candidates haven’t done so because they’ve been particularly attracted to the idea of Democratic Socialism. Most don’t even know what Democratic Socialism is.
In reality, voters have been attracted to vigorous young people who are committed to getting stuff done. Voters have had it with incumbents who have been in their jobs for decades. And they want fighters — who will get big corporate money out of our politics and go to the mat for average working people.
Colorado’s DeGette has held her seat for nearly 30 years. Kiros was born the same year DeGette was first elected to Congress.
Kiros is poised to become the first Gen Z woman elected to Congress. Her win in the solidly blue district that makes up most of Denver means Kiros is likely headed to Washington next year.
Kiros is a fighter who understands what’s worth fighting for, and expresses it clearly. “The thing is, fighting Trump is just one piece of the problem. Trump is not the cause,” Kiros said during a debate earlier this month. “He’s a symptom of a system that is broken and has been broken for a really long time because our party has failed to understand the role that they need to take in getting money out of our politics.”
A former lawyer and Ph.D. candidate, Kiros easily presents herself as a politician for the working class. Her family immigrated to Denver from Ethiopia when she was a baby.
Kiros has never before run for elected office, but she won support from a range of voters with a message of fundamental reform of the American system.
Or consider Manny Rutinel, 31, a progressive Colorado state representative who on Tuesday defeated a moderate Democrat to win the primary election in Colorado’s most competitive swing district.
A Dominican American activist and lawyer with a significant social media following and a knack for fund-raising, Rutinel isn’t a Democratic Socialist. He appealed to voters with his youth, energy, and multicultural biography in a suburban area north of Denver that’s nearly 40 percent Latino. He prevailed over Shannon Bird, a white moderate Democrat who had argued that she had broader appeal in the general election.
The district is one of Colorado’s ranching and agricultural hubs. It narrowly voted for Joseph R. Biden Jr. in 2020 and for President Trump in 2024. It is one of just a handful of battleground House districts with a substantial Latino population.
Besides their youth and multicultural backgrounds, these young Democratic politicians are committed to making people’s lives better. New York’s Mamdani focused his mayoral campaign on what New Yorkers needed — affordable housing, childcare, and basic services like clearing sidewalks after a snowstorm.
Seattle’s Wilson, a self-described Democratic Socialist who won election without the endorsement of the DSA, rose to prominence for advocating affordable housing, increased taxes on large corporations, and workers’ rights.
In Washington, D.C., Lewis George, a city council member, ran on a platform of expanding childcare, education and housing, and revoking the district’s cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
“From the start of this campaign, we championed the principle that DC residents deserve a government that works,” she said in her victory speech. “Over time, failing public services eroded people’s faith in government as a force of good in their lives. As mayor, I will be relentlessly focused on delivering reliable public services to every DC neighborhood. These are not trivial issues. They are core government functions and we need them to work.”
These new young Democrats have also won because they inspired armies of young activists to knock on doors and work the phones for them. They didn’t rely on big money; they relied on big excitement.
Two final things about them. Most are the children of immigrants; and they’re disproportionately female. They’re living illustrations of the diversity, equity, and inclusion America can foster, at its best. They’re the opposite of the white, male, Christian, nationalism that has overtaken the Republican Party.
At a time when Trump and his regime have cast a dark pall over America, a new generation of Democratic politicians is shining a bright light. The source of the energy and excitement they’re generating isn’t Democratic Socialism. It’s the emergence of the next America.
Robert Reich is a professor of public policy at Berkeley and former secretary of labor. His writings can be found at https://robertreich.substack.com/.
In one of the most notable upsets of the Democratic primaries so far, Democratic Socialist Melat Kiros, 29, yesterday won the nomination over incumbent Rep. Diana DeGette to represent Colorado’s hotly-contested First Congressional District.
I expect to see more stories about how the Democratic Socialists of America are taking over the Democratic Party. In New York last week, nine of 10 candidates endorsed by the DSA won primaries for the state Legislature and Congress. All three Democratic Socialist insurgents Mayor Zohran Mamdani backed for Congress prevailed. Two of them defeated incumbents.
Democratic Socialist elected officials now include U.S. representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib (both elected in 2018), New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani and Seattle mayor Katie Wilson (both elected in 2025). Democratic Socialist Janeese Lewis George is set to follow as mayor of Washington, D.C.
In 2025, over 250 DSA members held elected public office across 40 states, with 90 percent of them elected after 2019.
Pundits eager to declare a new movement or sound the alarm about socialism are having a field day.
But they’re wrong.
Voters who have supported these candidates haven’t done so because they’ve been particularly attracted to the idea of Democratic Socialism. Most don’t even know what Democratic Socialism is.
In reality, voters have been attracted to vigorous young people who are committed to getting stuff done. Voters have had it with incumbents who have been in their jobs for decades. And they want fighters — who will get big corporate money out of our politics and go to the mat for average working people.
Colorado’s DeGette has held her seat for nearly 30 years. Kiros was born the same year DeGette was first elected to Congress.
Kiros is poised to become the first Gen Z woman elected to Congress. Her win in the solidly blue district that makes up most of Denver means Kiros is likely headed to Washington next year.
Kiros is a fighter who understands what’s worth fighting for, and expresses it clearly. “The thing is, fighting Trump is just one piece of the problem. Trump is not the cause,” Kiros said during a debate earlier this month. “He’s a symptom of a system that is broken and has been broken for a really long time because our party has failed to understand the role that they need to take in getting money out of our politics.”
A former lawyer and Ph.D. candidate, Kiros easily presents herself as a politician for the working class. Her family immigrated to Denver from Ethiopia when she was a baby.
Kiros has never before run for elected office, but she won support from a range of voters with a message of fundamental reform of the American system.
Or consider Manny Rutinel, 31, a progressive Colorado state representative who on Tuesday defeated a moderate Democrat to win the primary election in Colorado’s most competitive swing district.
A Dominican American activist and lawyer with a significant social media following and a knack for fund-raising, Rutinel isn’t a Democratic Socialist. He appealed to voters with his youth, energy, and multicultural biography in a suburban area north of Denver that’s nearly 40 percent Latino. He prevailed over Shannon Bird, a white moderate Democrat who had argued that she had broader appeal in the general election.
The district is one of Colorado’s ranching and agricultural hubs. It narrowly voted for Joseph R. Biden Jr. in 2020 and for President Trump in 2024. It is one of just a handful of battleground House districts with a substantial Latino population.
Besides their youth and multicultural backgrounds, these young Democratic politicians are committed to making people’s lives better. New York’s Mamdani focused his mayoral campaign on what New Yorkers needed — affordable housing, childcare, and basic services like clearing sidewalks after a snowstorm.
Seattle’s Wilson, a self-described Democratic Socialist who won election without the endorsement of the DSA, rose to prominence for advocating affordable housing, increased taxes on large corporations, and workers’ rights.
In Washington, D.C., Lewis George, a city council member, ran on a platform of expanding childcare, education and housing, and revoking the district’s cooperation with federal immigration enforcement.
“From the start of this campaign, we championed the principle that DC residents deserve a government that works,” she said in her victory speech. “Over time, failing public services eroded people’s faith in government as a force of good in their lives. As mayor, I will be relentlessly focused on delivering reliable public services to every DC neighborhood. These are not trivial issues. They are core government functions and we need them to work.”
These new young Democrats have also won because they inspired armies of young activists to knock on doors and work the phones for them. They didn’t rely on big money; they relied on big excitement.
Two final things about them. Most are the children of immigrants; and they’re disproportionately female. They’re living illustrations of the diversity, equity, and inclusion America can foster, at its best. They’re the opposite of the white, male, Christian, nationalism that has overtaken the Republican Party.
At a time when Trump and his regime have cast a dark pall over America, a new generation of Democratic politicians is shining a bright light. The source of the energy and excitement they’re generating isn’t Democratic Socialism. It’s the emergence of the next America.
Robert Reich is a professor of public policy at Berkeley and former secretary of labor. His writings can be found at https://robertreich.substack.com/.
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