A democratic socialist unseats a 15-term congresswoman in Colorado

[AZProgressive]

Grace Panetta
Tue, June 30, 2026 at 7:32 PM MST

Melat Kiros, a 29-year-old democratic socialist and first-time candidate, ousted Democratic Rep. Diana DeGette of Colorado in a primary challenge on Tuesday.

DeGette, a 15-term incumbent first elected in 1996, is the second member of Congress to lose her seat to a younger democratic socialist challenger after Darializa Avila Chevalier unseated Rep. Adriano Espaillait, the chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, in New York's 13th District last week.

Chevalier's and Kiros' challenges came amid widespread discontent and frustration among Democratic voters with party leadership in the wake of President Donald Trump's election. Both Espaillat and DeGette are longtime progressives whom their opponents cast as representatives of a failing Democratic establishment beholden to corporate interests. Chevalier and Kiros both also have a history of pro-Palestine activism and made opposing Israel's war in Gaza central to their campaigns.

Kiros is all but assured to win the general election in the deep blue district, which encompasses most of the city and county of Denver.

https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/democratic-socialist-unseats-15-term-023225646.html

[DavidDvorkin]

1. Fuck.

[GP6971]

5. Huh?

[DavidDvorkin]

7. It's a very bad outcome for the party, the district, and the country.

[orleans]

8. why? nt

[angrychair]

11. Could not disagree more

This is the future of the Party and the new direction for the country...and it can't happen soon enough.

[Demsrule86]

14. Why?'

[TVguyCards]

19. How come?

[Autumn]

21. It's good for us here in Colorado.

[Emile]

24. I support our democratic nominee Melat Kiros.

[TransitJohn]

42. It's a great outcome for my district, CO-1, what are you smoking?

This is who we want. Democracy wins.

[InAbLuEsTaTe]

2. Glad to see democracy is alive and well!!

[Prairie Gates]

3. Time for some new ideas, especially on a few specific foreign policy questions

[Scruffy1]

10. I really like that. n/t

[Xavier Breath]

25. This a thousand times.

[3_Limes]

30. Yes! Some of those specific foreign policy questions are really high on my list of 'wants' in a candidate.

And I know that I'm not alone.

[yankee87]

4. Boomer here

This is what our party needs. We need new blood and leadership.

[rzemanfl]

15. +1. n/t

[H2O Man]

6. Recommended.

[Martin Eden]

39. "testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure"

that we here highly resolve ... that this nation ... shall have a new birth of freedom -- and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth

Dylan's song brought to mind Lincoln's great speech on the hallowed ground of Gettysburg. Today is the 163rd anniversary of the first day of that battle, which ended four score and seven years after our nation declared its independence from a tyrant.

The Civil War certainly changed things and ushered in a new birth of freedom -- and a long struggle still underway to fulfill the ideal of our founding -- that we are all created equal.

Today we are being tested whether that nation, so conceived, can endure. The times they are a-changin. Will real positive change require a catastrophic civil war, or will the consequences of a mad tyrant in the White House be sufficient to open enough hearts and minds to work together in bringing about the much needed change?

A house divided against itself cannot stand

I hold that truth to be self-evident. Truth and reconciliation is necessary. Hardened hearts must be softened, without any loss of the steely resolve required to defeat tyranny and usher in a new birth of freedom that will endure.

[Pototan]

9. I really want to see

a DSA candidate beat an incumbent Republican. Win me a purple or red seat, now you'll show me something.

[LeftInTX]

13. Yes! I will consider it successful when the GOP starts shaking in their boots!

If they start shifting to the left, then we'll know it's real progress.


FWIW: Several Jewish Democrats that I know are leaving the party due to how they have been marginalized.

[Emile]

17. Why are they being marginalized?

[travelingthrulife]

34. The media is telling them they are being marginalized by Democrats

They are falling for it.

[Emile]

35. AIPAC would be my guess.

[LeftInTX]

40. It was things that happened to them personally. Generally anti-semitism expressed to them by other Democrats.

Not having a seat at the table.

[3_Limes]

43. OK.

But, where will they go?

[LeftInTX]

44. I dunno. Have no idea.

[Autumn]

27. How is Texas doing with getting rid of the Texas garbage GOP?

[LeftInTX]

41. Texas Congressman Greg Casar is with DSA.

My post was in response to many DSA members are in safe seats.
It would be great if they could flip GOP seats.

Casar is in a safe seat.

We have several city council members who affiliated with DSA. My newest state rep also is. (He's in a safe seat)


Texas is so gerrymandered that every Democrat could be a DSA member and we still couldn't take out the garbage.

Everyone ignored the part that we want DSA members to flip GOP seats and yet piled on a few Jewish voters.

[Autumn]

47. My sisters live there. They would rot in hell before they would vote for any Democrat. nt

[3_Limes]

28. ???? Marginalized? Haven't seen this in any way.

I've been seeing Americans finally turning against sending billions and billions, with no real accountability, to Israel for endless wars and for genocide. But that's in no way marginalising the vote, the opinion, the value, of a single American jew.

[LilElf70]

12. Coincidence?

I don't think so. Look around. Start listening.

It sure appears that people in general are done with old politics. It's real obvious with the younger generation. Why not. It's their future. They are seeking real change. It appears that many are seeking a better life for everyone.

And personally, I'd take socialism programs over what we have today. By a landslide.

[Vinca]

18. While I support entirely what these people are running on and for, I blame Bernie for the label "democratic socialism."

It's a phrase that is too easy to twist and turn and make less engaged voters believe is something bad. The last political movement to make a dent was the Tea Party movement and that bit of history - the actual Boston Tea Party - evokes a positive response. The Tea Party movement was, as we know, a bunch of nuts, but they got the votes because people got sucked into it. Democratic socialism will be morphed into Lenin, Hitler, Stalin, communism, etc., etc., etc. even if it's not. Wish they had consulted a branding expert.

[TVguyCards]

20. They scream "Socialist Commie!" at everything

And it's time we stop giving a shit what they think. They don't give a shit about what we think so why afford them that same luxury? Instead of backing away from things we're now leaning hard into them & we're going to kick some major fascist ass!

[Vinca]

22. The problem is, we live in a shallow, shallow society. Many vote for whoever puts on the best show and little more.

I will be surprised if that changes in November. I hope Democrats will still get more votes that Republicans based on what Trump has done to the economy, going to war, Epstein, etc., etc., etc., but I fear we're delivering them ammunition with "democratic socialism."

[Emile]

23. I support our democratic nominee Melat Kiros.

[Vinca]

37. Well, so do I. My point is the branding is handing ammo to the GOP.

[TVguyCards]

32. Except...

There's a very large swatch of voters on the left who aren't represented & that is changing with DSA winning elections. Even a majority of Dem voters now prefer Socialism over Capitalism. The times have changed and that's a beautiful thing! 😀

[Vinca]

38. It's not a matter of the policies. Of course, most Democrats support them. It's the branding.

Just wait for the ads. By the time the stink on the right is done with us we'll sound like brown shirts planning to round up MAGA for executions. I hope I'm wrong. I really, really do.

[SocialDemocrat61]

31. Based on the policies that they many advocate

the correct term is really Social Democrat.

[Nanjeanne]

26. Congratulations! Exciting times.

[3_Limes]

29. I'm thrilled over this. The party is long overdue for an update.

And - I was really getting tired of losing elections with milquetoast, "moderate" candidates running campaigns as if it were still the 80s.

[RainCaster]

33. Hurrah! This is the future of the Democratic Party

And I'm excited to see it coming.

[Aepps22]

36. I Voted For Her But I Wouldn't Read Too Much Into It

I live in the district and voted for Gonzales, Weiser and Melat but I think the national narrative about the Colorado primaries is not quite accurate. Most of the criticism against Diane was about her age and not her actual policy decisions. There was very little separation in Melat’s positions and the positions Diane has had for 30 years. The only difference that everyone kept harping on was Diane’s age and her being in Congress for a long time.

The differences between Weiser and Bennet were even smaller. I am all for younger voices and younger politicians but in Melat’s case we are just replacing one progressive with another in a solidly blue district that supports progressive policies. I voted for Melat because I thought she was the better candidate but this isn’t the massive shift in this district that the media will play up. Had Diane taken this race seriously, attended debates with Ryan Clark moderating and actually campaigned 4 months ago she probably keeps her seat.

[Boo1]

45. What % of congress would DSA represent?

Like 2 or 3%? Doesn't sound much like a new direction.

[AZProgressive]

46. They will have more than they did in 2018

In addition to progressives that identify solely as Democrats the Progressive Caucus should be the largest it has ever been in 2027.