{"id":3380,"date":"2026-07-01T04:37:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T04:37:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3380"},"modified":"2026-07-01T04:37:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T04:37:16","slug":"socialist-congressional-candidate-melat-kiros-defeats-longtime-rep-diana-degette-in-colorado-primary-in-another-blow-to-establishment-dems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3380","title":{"rendered":"Socialist congressional candidate Melat Kiros defeats longtime Rep. Diana DeGette in Colorado primary in another blow to establishment\u00a0Dems"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Insurgent socialist candidate Melat Kiros defeated longtime Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) Tuesday in Colorado\u2019s 1st District House primary, marking the latest blow to the establishment wing of the Democratic Party.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more Alyssa Thomas reveals she\u2019s faced death threats in wake of Caitlin Clark incident<\/a><\/p>\n

Kiros came out on top of the incumbent, 49.3% to 43.5%, by the time the Associated Press called the race late Tuesday. <\/p>\n

Kiros\u2019s win in the solidly blue district follows a string of victories by socialist and far-left candidates over incumbent and establishment-backed Democrats in New York in June, and it\u2019s expected to tilt the political makeup of the House Democratic caucus even further to the left after the midterm elections.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cNow is not the time to gamble and send somebody with no experience to Washington,\u201d DeGette, a 15-term Democrat, pleaded at a candidate forum last week.<\/p>\n

First elected to the House in 1997, DeGette, 68, has represented the Denver area in Congress longer than Kiros, 29, has been alive.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need a strong, bold, hardened leader who will hold Trump accountable, and when we win the majority in November, will have real power to move the US to a more just and affordable America \u2026 That leader is me,\u201d DeGette argued.\u00a0<\/p>\n

DeGette boasted endorsements from Colorado\u2019s Democratic congressional delegation, the House Progressive Caucus,\u00a0Planned Parenthood Action Fund and several prominent labor unions.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) told reporters Monday that DeGette was \u201cforcefully making her case\u201d for re-election while cautioning, \u201cWe\u2019ll see what happens.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Jeffries went on to blame President Trump for the \u201cunsettled electoral environment\u201d wreaking havoc on incumbent Democrats, according to CBS News.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

With Trump being in office, \u201cIt\u2019s not a surprise that there are highly competitive primaries in deep blue parts of the country that are also unfolding this cycle,\u201d the Brooklyn Democrat said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kiros, an Ethiopia-born Ph.D. student and former attorney backed by socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), slammed Democratic leadership throughout her campaign.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Read more SCOTUS delivers a win for common sense with ruling on women\u2019s sports \u2014 but activists say the war isn\u2019t over<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cThe reality is Democrats have the worst approval rating we\u2019ve had in decades, because we\u2019ve failed to actually do anything for working people,\u201d Kiros said at the candidate forum. \u201cIn 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kiros listed her top five issues as\u00a0 \u201cMedicare for all. Housing first. Universal child care. Abolishing ICE. And more than anything \u2026 publicly financed elections,\u201d in a recent interview with controversial lefty podcaster Hasan Piker.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In that same interview, Kiros described Hamas\u2019 Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel as an \u201cinevitable consequence\u201d of Israel\u2019s actions.<\/p>\n

Kiros went viral in the weeks after the Hamas attack for writing an open letter arguing that calling for the elimination of Israel isn\u2019t antisemitic. The open letter resulted in her firing from the New York office of the Sidley Austin law firm.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Democratic Socialists of America member, who has called for ending US aid to Israel, has also come under fire for refusing to call the June 2025 Boulder, Colo., firebombing of a pro-Israel rally antisemitic.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Kiros is expected to cruise in the general election, as Colorado\u2019s 1st District is rated solidly Democratic by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

She\u2019ll likely be joined in Congress by New York City\u2019s lefty trio of former DSA member Brad Lander and current DSA members Darializa Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez \u2014 who were all backed by democratic socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Lander and Chevalier topped Jeffries-backed candidates, Reps. Dan Goldman (D-NY) and Adriano Espaillat (D-NY) earlier this month, while Valdez beat establishment-aligned candidates in the primary race to replace retiring Rep. Nydia Velazquez.<\/p>\n

However, the socialists were less lucky in another Centennial State race Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Incumbent Sen. John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) emerged victorious in the Colorado Democratic Senate primary over\u00a0state Sen. Julie Gonzales, a former member of the Democratic Socialists of America.<\/p>\n

Read more \u2018State sanctioned\u2019 Russian mob ran $1B Medicare scam out of New York, compromised 1M medical records: Feds<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Insurgent socialist candidate Melat Kiros defeated longtime Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) Tuesday in Colorado\u2019s 1st District House primary, marking the latest blow to the establishment wing of the Democratic Party.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3379,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3380","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nSocialist congressional candidate Melat Kiros defeats longtime Rep. Diana DeGette in Colorado primary in another blow to establishment\u00a0Dems - Metro Transit Review<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3380\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Socialist congressional candidate Melat Kiros defeats longtime Rep. Diana DeGette in Colorado primary in another blow to establishment\u00a0Dems - Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Insurgent socialist candidate Melat Kiros defeated longtime Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) Tuesday in Colorado\u2019s 1st District House primary, marking the latest blow to the establishment wing of the Democratic Party.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3380\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Metro Transit Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-07-01T04:37:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=3380#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=3380\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\"},\"headline\":\"Socialist congressional candidate Melat Kiros defeats longtime Rep. Diana DeGette in Colorado primary in another blow to establishment\u00a0Dems\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-01T04:37:16+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=3380\"},\"wordCount\":716,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=3380#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/59aa952bafd5f06730af53f2211dc954.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Politics\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=3380#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=3380\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=3380\",\"name\":\"Socialist congressional candidate Melat Kiros defeats longtime Rep. Diana DeGette in Colorado primary in another blow to establishment\u00a0Dems - Metro Transit Review\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=3380#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=3380#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/59aa952bafd5f06730af53f2211dc954.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-07-01T04:37:16+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=3380#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=3380\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=3380#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/59aa952bafd5f06730af53f2211dc954.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/07\\\/59aa952bafd5f06730af53f2211dc954.webp\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":799},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?p=3380#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Socialist congressional candidate Melat Kiros defeats longtime Rep. Diana DeGette in Colorado primary in another blow to establishment\u00a0Dems\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Metro Transit Review\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/metrotransitreview.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Socialist congressional candidate Melat Kiros defeats longtime Rep. Diana DeGette in Colorado primary in another blow to establishment\u00a0Dems - Metro Transit Review","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3380","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Socialist congressional candidate Melat Kiros defeats longtime Rep. Diana DeGette in Colorado primary in another blow to establishment\u00a0Dems - Metro Transit Review","og_description":"Insurgent socialist candidate Melat Kiros defeated longtime Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) Tuesday in Colorado\u2019s 1st District House primary, marking the latest blow to the establishment wing of the Democratic Party.\u00a0","og_url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3380","og_site_name":"Metro Transit Review","article_published_time":"2026-07-01T04:37:16+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3380#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3380"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14"},"headline":"Socialist congressional candidate Melat Kiros defeats longtime Rep. Diana DeGette in Colorado primary in another blow to establishment\u00a0Dems","datePublished":"2026-07-01T04:37:16+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3380"},"wordCount":716,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3380#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/59aa952bafd5f06730af53f2211dc954.webp","articleSection":["Politics"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3380#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3380","url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3380","name":"Socialist congressional candidate Melat Kiros defeats longtime Rep. Diana DeGette in Colorado primary in another blow to establishment\u00a0Dems - Metro Transit Review","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3380#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3380#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/59aa952bafd5f06730af53f2211dc954.webp","datePublished":"2026-07-01T04:37:16+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3380#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3380"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3380#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/59aa952bafd5f06730af53f2211dc954.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/59aa952bafd5f06730af53f2211dc954.webp","width":1200,"height":799},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?p=3380#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Socialist congressional candidate Melat Kiros defeats longtime Rep. Diana DeGette in Colorado primary in another blow to establishment\u00a0Dems"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/","name":"Metro Transit Review","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7cd7bd9683106710eed62ba5da559b14","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/metrotransitreview.com"],"url":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3380"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3380\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3379"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/metrotransitreview.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}