Democratic Socialists of America continue to take out establishment Democrats at the ballot box. The latest casualty is a longtime congresswoman from Colorado.
On Tuesday, Gen Z upstart Melat Kiros trounced longtime incumbent Rep. Diana DeGette in the Democratic primary for the 1st Congressional District of Colorado, representing much of Denver. With 81% of the vote reported, Kiros holds a lead of nearly 10 points, 51.3% to DeGette’s 41.7%, according to NBC News.
‘This is the most anti-incumbent cycle we’ve seen in a really long time.’
As of Wednesday afternoon, DeGette had still not conceded the race on social media. Late Tuesday night, she posted to X that “it looks like we won’t have final results tonight.”
By all accounts, DeGette has established far-left Democrat bona fides. She was a manager in President Trump’s second impeachment effort, she supports “Medicare for all,” and she wants to abolish ICE.
Though she has a progressive track record, DeGette characterized Kiros’ platform as “extreme.”
Indeed, Kiros has been endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America, Justice Democrats, and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and she espouses many of their radical views, especially regarding Israel. She even claims to have been fired from a law firm after writing a letter supporting Palestine after the October 7 attacks.
Kiros, a lawyer and a Ph.D. student, explained that once she began campaigning for office, she realized: “All these policies I’m calling for are democratic socialism,” Vox reported.
DeGette, 68, was first sworn in to Congress in January 1997, four months before Kiros, 29, was born.
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Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images
Kiros is just the latest democratic socialist to successfully primary a Democrat incumbent. In the New York primary races last week, 32-year-old Darializa Avila Chevalier took out 71-year-old incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat, and NYC Comptroller Brad Lander defeated anti-Trump radical Rep. Dan Goldman.
Democratic socialist Assemblywoman Claire Valdez also won the primary for the open seat in the 7th Congressional District of New York. Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D-N.Y.) is retiring at the end of the term.
Both Avila Chevalier and Lander had been endorsed by NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a fellow democratic socialist who, like Kiros, was not born in America. Mamdani was born in Uganda to Indian parents, while Kiros was born in Ethiopia and brought to America as a baby.
Kiros views the 2026 Democratic primary races as an opportunity to reshape the party.
“This is the most anti-incumbent cycle we’ve seen in a really long time,” she told Vox. “So I think this is an opportunity to change the party in a way that — I don’t think we’ll have another chance like this. To pass it up, I think, is irresponsible.”
“This isn’t just about replacing one generation of leaders with another,” she also told Vox. “It’s about replacing it with moral clarity, with urgency, with courage — and making sure that the will of the voters is actually being represented and fought for at the federal level.”
The 1st Congressional District of Colorado is heavily Democrat, and Kiros is expected to win the seat in November.
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