Melat Kiros ousts Diana DeGette in Colorado primary

Democratic socialist Melat Kiros has defeated Rep. Diana DeGette in Colorado’s 1st Congressional District Democratic primary, ending the Denver congresswoman’s three-decade hold on the seat and giving the insurgent left another major victory over an entrenched incumbent.

NBC News and The Associated Press projected Kiros, 29, as the winner Tuesday in the deep-blue district centered on Denver. CBS Colorado reported that as of 10 p.m. Mountain time, Kiros had 49.3% of the vote, DeGette had 43.5% and University of Colorado Regent Wanda James had 7.2%.

DeGette, 68, has represented the district since the mid-1990s. She first took office in 1997, the year Kiros was born. A 15-term incumbent and the longest-serving member of Colorado’s congressional delegation, DeGette is a member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee and has emphasized her support for Medicare for All, abortion rights and abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement. She also pointed to her role as an impeachment manager during President Donald Trump’s 2021 Senate trial after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot.

But Kiros cast the race as a generational challenge to Democratic leadership, arguing that the party must move more urgently against Trump and corporate influence. At a March party convention, she recalled her father telling her their family were Democrats because the party “fights for the people.”

“The party didn’t just wake up and decide to do the right thing — it was pushed by organizers, by dreamers, by people who refused to accept the world as it was, and with everything at stake right now, it’s on us to push the party again,” Kiros said. “And not just to fight back against Trump, to fight for a better world.”

Kiros, a lawyer whose family immigrated to the United States from Ethiopia when she was a baby, had never run for office before. She won endorsements from Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont, the Democratic Socialists of America, Justice Democrats and the Working Families Party. CBS Colorado reported that Kiros dominated the Denver Democratic Assembly in March, receiving 646 delegate votes, or 63%, to DeGette’s 336 votes, or 32%.

Israel policy became a central issue in the race. Kiros has called for “an immediate and unconditional arms embargo on Israel” and for ending U.S. funding to Israel’s military. The Guardian reported that she accused Israel of carrying out genocide in Gaza in an interview with Colorado Public Radio. DeGette opposes providing offensive arms to Israel but told CPR she believes Israel has a right to exist and defend itself.

DeGette’s campaign and outside groups attacked Kiros over past comments. Kiros was fired from a New York law firm after refusing to remove a 2023 blog post rejecting accusations that law students protesting Israel’s response to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack were antisemitic, The Guardian reported. In a 9News interview, she declined to say whether a 2025 firebombing attack on pro-Israel demonstrators in Boulder was motivated by antisemitism, saying, “I don’t know what was in the heart of the perpetrator.” She also said the 9/11 attacks were “inevitable” because the United States had “destabilized a lot of the Middle East.”

Kiros’ win follows a string of progressive primary victories in deep-blue areas, including New York races a week earlier in which two Democratic incumbents were unseated. NBC News reported DeGette is the seventh House member to lose renomination this election cycle and the third in seven days.

Kiros will face Republican Christy Peterson, who ran unopposed, in the Nov. 3 general election. She is heavily favored in the district, which The Guardian reported gave Kamala Harris 77% of the vote in 2024.

Colorado’s primaries also produced statewide upsets and fall matchups. Attorney General Phil Weiser defeated Sen. Michael Bennet for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, while Sen. John Hickenlooper won renomination over state Sen. Julie Gonzales and will face Republican state Sen. Mark Baisley. In the competitive 8th District, state Rep. Manny Rutinel won the Democratic primary to face Republican Rep. Gabe Evans. In western Colorado, Republican Rep. Jeff Hurd defeated a primary challenge from former state Rep. Ron Hanks.