Democratic socialist Melat Kiros defeated 15-term US Representative Diana DeGette on Tuesday in the Democratic primary in a Denver-area district, according to US media projections, the latest victory of an insurgent leftist over an establishment Democrat.
Kiros, a 29-year-old former attorney who was fired after refusing to remove a controversial post that criticized law firms for their stance on Israel and Palestine, has called Israel’s actions in Gaza genocide.
Endorsed by US Senator Bernie Sanders, won despite being outgunned more than 2-1 in terms of funding, and having called for a full arms embargo on Israel for even defensive weapons.
The race was called by multiple media outlets with 78% of the vote counted, with Kiros carrying a nearly 7,000-vote lead over DeGette.
Stopping versus limiting US military aid to Israel
Both DeGette and Kiros support the Medicare for All public health proposal and abolishing ICE, although they have different views on Israel. Kiros has called for ending wars, including by stopping military aid to Israel, while DeGette has said she supports sending only defensive weapons to Israel.
Kiros recently faced controversy over her criticism of Democrats who support Israel and her alliance with far Left political commentator Hasan Piker, whose rhetoric critics have described as offensive and crude. She also drew criticism after calling Hamas’s October 7 massacre “inevitable” and declining to refer to the June 2025 Boulder firebombing as antisemitic, according to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
She is favored to win November's election in the overwhelmingly Democratic district.
Kiros, currently a doctoral student at the University of Denver, is the latest democratic socialist to oust an incumbent this summer. In New York City, three candidates with ties to the Democratic Socialists of America and endorsed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani won their primaries.
An 'alarming' wake up call
Colorado Jewish leaders and groups have expressed concerns about Kiros, JTA reported.
“I think the Jewish community is really alarmed,” Brandon Rattiner, senior director of the Colorado Jewish Community Relations Council (JCRC), told JTA in an interview before the primary.
Steven Paletz, a JCRC board member and onetime state legislature candidate, noted in an interview that the Colorado primary received an injection of campaigning and turnout efforts last week from progressives around the country, according to JTA.
“I think it’s a reminder or a wake-up call, especially with turnout as low as it is, that we need to organize and knock doors and do these things,” the JTA cited Paletz as saying. “It’s not just writing a check anymore.”