CO-01: 'No One's Coming to Save Us but Us': Gen Z Runs for Office

[RandySF]

Melat Kiros was fresh out of Notre Dame Law School in 2023 when she was fired by her New York law firm after publishing a lengthy letter sharply criticizing Israel’s government, raising questions about its historical legitimacy and challenging the firm’s response to law students engaging in pro-Palestinian activism.

In Tuesday’s Democratic primary in Colorado, under the banner of the Democratic Socialists of America, Ms. Kiros, 29, is again challenging the establishment. This time, she hopes to defeat Representative Diana DeGette, 68, a liberal Democrat who was elected to her Denver-area seat a year before Ms. Kiros was born.

The showdown is the latest between the mainstream Democratic Party and its ascendant, youthful left wing, but Ms. Kiros represents more than the D.S.A. She is one of several Gen Z candidates this year fueled by the generational frustrations of their pandemic-marred youth, social media-fueled isolation, artificial intelligence and the war in Gaza.

The upset pulled off by Darializa Avila Chevalier, 32, a socialist doctoral student, over Representative Adriano Espaillat, 71, in last week’s New York Democratic primary may have only set the stage for the generational and ideological fights to come — on both sides of the political aisle.





https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/29/us/elections/colorado-primary-gen-z.html

[UpInArms]

1. I am so pleased that younger people have stepped up

this is their world, much more than ours.

I hope they can have a huge say in the future, their future

[RandySF]

3. Candidates come with fine print.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100221334950

[DavidDvorkin]

6. There will be crickets or scornful dismissal.

[hlthe2b]

2. This is probably a tough primary (DeGette versus Kiros) for many in Denver...

The former is well known and respected (IMO) by most--she is endorsed by AOC for any who want to pain her as a "out-of-touch" or less than a liberal Democrat. Kiros, is well-educated, dedicated, energetic, determined, and endorsed by Bernie Sanders. She also has had success with her direct tv ads that target DeGette in a way several in local political media had described as "overly strident," all the while they do give her props for her debate performances and articulate defense of her positions. Unlike this very biased NYT piece, I think local media (print, tv, and online) have tried hard to be fair to both.

While I could have seen myself voting in either direction, I'm not sure DeGette deserves the very ageist attacks she's getting and the overt suggestion she is out of touch. Perhaps AOC's endorsement will help with that. Still, I do not dislike Kiros and I do appreciate the energy she has brought to the primary race.

We shall see.

[bucolic_frolic]

4. The idea they're going to wrest any political control from Big Money, capitalism, and Wall Street

is ludicrous. They are destined to re-fight the New Deal landscape that we thought was settled. This is not progress. This is redux, and we may well not win much.

[Alpeduez21]

5. Right because the same tired candidates and playbook has been SO successful