“A year ago, a lot of experienced people told us this was impossible,” Melat Kiros told a roomful of cheering supporters in Denver on Tuesday night. “They said you can’t beat a 30-year incumbent.”
She had just done it. The Associated Press called the Democratic primary in Colorado’s 1st Congressional District for Kiros at 10:03 p.m., ending Rep. Diana DeGette’s three decades in Congress. By 10:30 she led 49% to 44%, with University of Colorado Regent Wanda James a little over 7%.
Kiros is 29, a Ph.D. student and former attorney who had never run for office. She was born four months after DeGette first took her seat. A democratic socialist, she launched what looked like a long-shot challenge last year and carried the endorsements of the Democratic Socialists of America and Justice Democrats.
“You are the proof that the power of organized people beats the power of organized money,” she told the crowd. She also thanked DeGette for work on issues like abortion rights. “She helped build a community that welcomes my family to this city and to this district, and I’ll always be grateful for that.”
Then the warning to the party. “We won tonight, but this is also something so much bigger than this moment. This is a movement, and we are just getting started.”
From the barista counter to the ballot
Kiros’s family left Ethiopia for Denver when she was 11 months old. She worked as a barista before and during the campaign. Her path into politics began in late 2023, when the New York office of the law firm Sidley Austin fired her after she posted an open letter defending students protesting Israel’s war in Gaza against charges of antisemitism. She moved home to Denver.
The first sign of trouble for DeGette came in March. At the Democratic Party’s Denver assembly, Kiros took 67% of delegates to DeGette’s 32.8%, the first time DeGette had ever lost at that stage. It put Kiros at the top of the ballot. James got on through petition signatures.
A veteran fights on her record
DeGette, a former attorney herself, served two terms in the state House before succeeding Pat Schroeder in 1996. She has long been the most left-leaning member of Colorado’s congressional delegation. In the final stretch she pointed to her support for single-payer health care and for abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and to endorsements from leaders of the Congressional Progressive Caucus. She argued her experience would make her an effective champion if Democrats retake the House.
Kiros went after the money. She criticized DeGette for taking donations from corporate PACs and said millions in late super PAC spending had helped her opponent. Groups that spent for DeGette included Pro-Choice Majority Action, Project 218 and the newly registered Mile High Accountability Project. Many of their donors will not be named until the Federal Election Commission deadline in mid-July.
The win follows a string of victories by left-wing challengers in New York the week before. It is the biggest yet for the DSA-aligned movement that has been trying to shake up Colorado Democratic politics for a decade. Some of the movement’s earlier winners, including candidates elected to the Denver City Council, later lost to more moderate challengers in primaries.
