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ANOTHER BLOW TO DEMOCRATIC ESTABLISHMENT AS MELAT KIROS UNSEATS
30-YEAR INCUMBENT IN COLORADO  
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Jake Johnson
July 1, 2026
Common Dreams
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_ “We won tonight, but this is also something so much bigger than
this moment,” said Milat Kiros, a 29-year-old democratic socialist.
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Democratic congressional candidate Melat Kiros speaks to supporters
at an election-night watch party on June 30, 2026 in Denver,
Colorado., (Photo by Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images)

 

Melat Kiros, a 29-year-old democratic socialist and first-time
candidate, defeated 15-term incumbent Rep. Diana DeGette on Tuesday in
Colorado’s 1st Congressional District primary, the latest signal
that progressive momentum and backlash against the Democratic
establishment are spreading nationwide.
“We won tonight, but this is also something so much bigger than this
moment,” Kiros, who was fired from the law firm Sidley Austin in
2023 for speaking out in support
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of Palestinian rights
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told backers late Tuesday after The Associated Press called the race
in her favor. “We believe that fundamental change can, and will,
happen if we fight for it—if we organize, if we show no fear in
standing up for what’s right. That is the message that Denver has
sent to both parties, to Donald Trump
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country.”

Kiros’ upset win came a week after a series of progressive victories
in New York
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congressional primaries, which sparked backlash from the party’s
corporate wing. Days after the New York contests, more than a dozen
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signed an open letter [[link removed]] declaring
that “we are capitalist, not socialist,” a clear rebuke of
insurgent progressives
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Justice Democrats, a national progressive group that backed Kiros,
said it is having its “most successful cycle to date, winning six
Democratic primaries and proceeding to the top two in two California
primaries.” The organization recruited Darializa Avila Chevalier,
who upset five-term incumbent Rep. Adriano Espaillat in New York’s
13th Congressional District last week.

“Melat and our candidates continue winning this cycle because
Democratic voters are finally getting leaders acting on their demands
to bring the fight to the corporations raising our prices, the war
lobbies profiting off endless war and genocide
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communities,” Alexandra Rojas, Justice Democrats’ executive
director, said in a statement Tuesday.

Kiros—whose platform
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childcare, and abolishing Immigration and Customs
Enforcement—prevailed despite a last-minute torrent of super PAC
spending in support of DeGette. Drop Site reported
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that “super PACs [[link removed]]
funded by AIPAC [[link removed]] and major big
tech [[link removed]] donors have poured
roughly $2 million behind Rep. Diana DeGette on the eve of her
contentious primary.”

“Across the country, voters are rejecting corporate politics and
electing candidates willing to take on billionaire influence, confront
the climate crisis [[link removed]],
fight for working people, and speak with moral clarity on the defining
issues of the moment,” said the youth-led Sunrise Movement
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win.

Kiros will be the heavy favorite to win the general election in
November, when she will face Republican Christy Peterson.

Progressives also celebrated Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser’s
Democratic gubernatorial primary win
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over US Sen. Michael Bennet, whose campaign received nearly $3 million
in support
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from billionaire former New York City
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Bloomberg [[link removed]].

“This movement is what democracy
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told supporters late Tuesday. “You all sent a very clear message:
The future of Colorado will not be decided by out-of-state
billionaires, by corporations or special interests. Colorado’s
future belongs to all of us.”

_Jake Johnson is a senior editor and staff writer for Common Dreams._

* Democratic primary
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* Colorado
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* Democratic Socialist of America
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* Democratic Establishment
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* blue upset
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