Socialist Upsets Democrat Congresswoman Who First Took Office The Year She Was Born

A 29-year-old socialist ended a longtime Denver congresswoman’s tenure with an upset victory in the Democratic primary Tuesday.

Melat Kiros, an Ethiopian immigrant and lawyer who was fired over her public criticism of Israel, stunned incumbent Rep. Diana DeGette winning 49.3% of the vote to the congresswoman’s 43.5%, the Associated Press reported with 78% of ballots counted. Endorsed by Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), Kiros is the heavy favorite to win the November general election given Colorado’s First Congressional District’s strong Democratic lean.

In addition to the DSA, Kiros had the endorsements of Independent Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and Our Revolution, a left-wing group that began as a continuation of his 2016 presidential campaign. She also had garnered the support of Chris Rabb, a fellow DSA-backed candidate who won the Democratic nomination for a deep blue Philadelphia-based seat in May, and Justice Democrats — a group instrumental in helping Democratic New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez oust a longtime incumbent in a 2018 primary. (RELATED: Here Are The Voters Backing Democratic Socialists)

Kiros is the same age Ocasio-Cortez was when she was first elected to Congress.

Track AIPAC, a group that highlights members of Congress that receive campaign contributions from the Israeli lobby also endorsed the victorious socialist.

“When I spoke out against the genocide in Gaza, powerful people told me to stay silent or it would cost me my job,” Kiros says via a quote on the homepage of her campaign website. “I didn’t back down. Now I’ll do the same in Congress.”

White-shoe law firm Sidley Austin’s New York City office fired Kiros in November 2023 after she published an open letter to law firms sharply critical of the state of Israel, while also still condemning antisemitism.

“And despite claiming to be the one and only democracy in the Middle East, the Israeli government has weaponized anti-Semitism to defend its crimes against the Palestinian people and quell any resistance or critique against it,” Kiros wrote in the letter which Medium published exactly one month after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 surprise attacks on Israel.

“My name is Melat Kiros. I’m a lawyer. I’m a PhD student. I’m a barista. And I’m an immigrant,” the candidate said in a speech at the Denver county Democratic assembly in March.

At the assembly, Kiros received 63% of the vote compared to DeGette’s 32%. If the longtime congresswoman had received under 30% of the vote at the assembly, she would have failed to make the primary ballot altogether.

The First District gave Vice President Kamala Harris 77% of the vote in the 2024 presidential election. The Denver-based seat has only had two representatives — DeGette and her predecessor, the late Pat Schroeder — in the past 50 years. It had last voted for a Republican member of Congress in 1970.

DeGette, a member of the left-wing Congressional Progressive Caucus, had represented the seat since 1997, the year Kiros was born. She voted, along with the vast majority of the House Democratic Caucus, to provide Israel with aid shortly following the Oct. 7 attacks. The resolution passed the House by a nearly unanimous 412-10 margin.

Kiros’ win comes one week after a trio of left-wing House candidates backed by socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani won contested Democratic House primaries against more moderate opponents. Two of them unseated incumbent lawmakers.

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