Colorado primaries test Democratic establishment against insurgent challengers

Colorado voters are choosing nominees Tuesday in a set of Democratic primaries that have become the latest test of the party’s establishment, as longtime officeholders face challengers arguing for a sharper break from Washington politics.

The contests follow major victories in New York for candidates backed by New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who said afterward that “New Yorkers are hungry for a new kind of politics.” In Colorado, the same establishment-versus-insurgent dynamic is playing out in three prominent Democratic races involving Sen. Michael Bennet, Sen. John Hickenlooper and Rep. Diana DeGette. Polls close at 9 p.m. ET.

Bennet, who has represented Colorado in the Senate since 2009, is running for governor after term-limited Gov. Jared Polis. He had long been viewed as the front-runner, but state Attorney General Phil Weiser has mounted a significant challenge by presenting himself as a fighter against the Trump administration, including through dozens of lawsuits.

Bennet, a moderate who also ran for president in 2020, has focused on affordability and his record in Washington, including the expanded Child Tax Credit. When he launched his campaign, he said the “best solutions to our challenges will not come from Washington’s broken politics,” but from Colorado. Weiser has sought to cast him as a Washington insider and has criticized his support for several of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet picks. NBC News reported that the race has grown increasingly negative, with both campaigns and allied outside groups attacking each other over who has taken a tougher approach to Trump.

The winner of the Democratic primary for governor is expected to be heavily favored in November. Colorado has not elected a Republican governor in more than two decades. If Bennet wins the governorship, NBC News reported, he would be able to appoint his own replacement to the Senate for the remainder of his term.

In Denver-based Colorado’s 1st Congressional District, DeGette is facing her most serious primary challenge since she was first elected in 1996. The 15-term incumbent narrowly cleared the 30% threshold at the Democratic Party assembly in March to qualify for the ballot, while 29-year-old Melat Kiros outperformed her among party activists.

Kiros, a democratic socialist whose family immigrated from Ethiopia when she was a baby, has argued that DeGette is too close to corporate donors. “In order for the Democratic Party to actually fulfill its progressive agenda, we need to have members that are unbought and unafraid to stand up to the billionaires and corporations,” Kiros said at a candidate forum.

DeGette has countered by emphasizing her experience and progressive record. “Now is not the time to gamble and send somebody with no experience to Washington,” she said at the same forum. NBC News reported that DeGette has also run an ad highlighting her role as an impeachment manager during Trump’s Senate trial after the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, as well as her support for “Medicare for All” and abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Kiros is backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, Justice Democrats, the Democratic Socialists of America and several successful insurgent candidates, according to NBC News. The outlet also reported that Israel policy has played a major role in the race, including scrutiny of Kiros’ comments about Hamas’ 2023 attack on Israel and her refusal to say whether a firebombing attack on demonstrators in Boulder supporting Israeli hostages was antisemitic. Justice Democrats has spent more than $500,000 to support Kiros, while super PACs have spent more than $2 million to help DeGette.

Hickenlooper, elected to the Senate in 2020 after serving as governor and Denver mayor, is seeking a second term against state Sen. Julie Gonzales. Gonzales, a former member of the Democratic Socialists of America, has argued that Colorado needs a new generation of leadership and criticized Hickenlooper, 74, as part of “go-along-to-get-along politics.” She has also faulted him for voting for 10 of Trump’s Cabinet nominees. Hickenlooper has vastly outraised and outspent Gonzales while emphasizing his Senate work and opposition to Trump.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said Monday that DeGette is “forcefully making her case” for reelection. “The reality is we have an unsettled electoral environment, which is going to be the case when Donald Trump is president,” he said. “It’s not a surprise that there are highly competitive primaries in deep blue parts of the country that are also unfolding this cycle.”