Democratic socialist and political newcomer Melat Kiros defeated 15-term U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette in Colorado’s 1st Congressional District primary on Tuesday, according to a race call by the Associated Press.
Kiros, 29, a Ph.D. student and lawyer who was born in Ethiopia in 1997 — the same year DeGette first took office — secured the Democratic nomination in the deep-blue district covering most of Denver. She is now heavily favored to win the November general election and take her seat in January 2027, where she would become the first Gen Z woman and just the second Gen Z member of Congress, joining Florida Democrat Maxwell Frost.
During her campaign, Kiros described the race in generational terms. “Young people understand that we are in the fight of our lives,” she said in a February interview with NPR. “We need to have leaders that are going to be fighting for the kind of bold policies that actually get something done, and they’re refusing to settle or wait for our turn or ask for permission.”
Kiros ran on a platform of economic populist policies including universal healthcare and childcare, and took positions that included abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement and ending U.S. military aid to Israel. She swore off contributions from corporate PACs and pro-Israel lobbying groups, and criticized DeGette’s history of accepting donations from defense contractors and energy and pharmaceutical companies, according to the Guardian.
DeGette, a member of the congressional progressive caucus, defended her record during the campaign, emphasizing her work on healthcare and climate policy.
The contest also highlighted the role of the Israel-Hamas war as a wedge issue among Democratic primary voters. In an interview with Colorado Public Radio, Kiros accused the United States of carrying out “a genocide in Gaza” and called for the U.S. to impose an arms embargo on Israel, according to the Guardian. DeGette opposes providing offensive arms to Israel but told CPR she believes the country has a right to exist and defend itself.
Kiros secured endorsements from Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Democratic Socialists of America, and Justice Democrats, the progressive group that recruited and backed her. The victory comes a week after DSA-backed candidates won two House primaries in New York — a narrow defeat of five-term incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat by Darializa Avila Chevalier, and state Assemblymember Claire Valdez’s win in an open seat to succeed retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez, as NPR reported.
If elected, Kiros would join a small but likely growing cohort of self-described democratic socialists in Congress, a group that currently includes Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.