{"id":697,"date":"2026-06-25T23:42:59","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T23:42:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=697"},"modified":"2026-06-25T23:42:59","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T23:42:59","slug":"whats-next-for-democratic-socialists-it-could-be-denver","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=697","title":{"rendered":"What\u2019s Next for Democratic Socialists? It Could Be Denver."},"content":{"rendered":"
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DENVER \u2014 The growing wave of anti-incumbent energy could crash into Denver on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump Fights Off House Republican Mutiny Over Voter ID Bill<\/a><\/p>\n

Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colorado) is staring down one of the toughest primary challenges in her 30-year congressional career from 29-year-old attorney and democratic socialist Melat Kiros.<\/p>\n

The ground was already shifting here even before Democratic Socialists of America insurgents rolled through<\/u><\/span> New York\u2019s primaries this week. Last week, Kiros picked up an endorsement from Sen. Bernie Sanders<\/u><\/span>, while a trio of pro-DeGette super PACs has pumped more than $1.3 million \u2014 and continues to add more<\/u><\/span> \u2014 into ads attacking Kiros, according to the ad-tracking firm AdImpact. This week, pro-DeGette ads are outnumbering Kiros\u2019 by nearly a 3-to-1 margin.<\/p>\n

\u201cMelat\u2019s got a lot of momentum, and she\u2019s shown what real leadership can look like,\u201d said Colorado state Rep. Yara Zokaie, who has endorsed Kiros. \u201cI don\u2019t agree with everything she says, but she has provided a vision of what it could look like to have a representative who is going to build a grassroots movement. \u2026 Momentum does not move backwards, and [Melat] has it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Or as a Colorado Democratic strategist not involved in the race said of DeGette: \u201cIt might be too late, but all this money, last minute, means she is in real trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an interview with NOTUS, Kiros said her campaign has seen a surge in donations and volunteers since New York\u2019s primaries. New York DSA organizers are also planning to be in Denver this weekend to help for the final door-knocking push, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe saw the establishment, the leadership, in our party being out of step with the desires of the voters,\u201d Kiros said. \u201cI think we\u2019re going to see the same thing happening here in Denver on Tuesday because voters want to see elected leaders that are unbought and unafraid.\u201d<\/p>\n

A victory for Kiros here \u2014 in a primary defined by all the generational and ideological differences rippling through the Democratic Party, including the U.S.-Israel relationship \u2014 would add an exclamation point to progressives\u2019 efforts to grow their power in Washington. That movement has already been strengthened by wins in New York, California and Maine. Progressives are also eagerly watching Abdul El-Sayed\u2019s bid in Michigan\u2019s Senate primary and state Rep. Francesa Hong\u2019s campaign for governor in Wisconsin as the next benchmarks in the primary calendar.<\/p>\n

DeGette, backed by the Congressional Progressive Caucus, is leaning hard into her own progressive bonafides, airing a TV ad featuring Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.)<\/u><\/span>, who has not endorsed in the race, and a digital video with Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), who has backed DeGette.<\/p>\n

Due to her congressional seniority, DeGette said she\u2019s poised to take over the Committee on Energy and Commerce health subcommittee, where she\u2019ll push to pass Medicare for All.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I lost, then Ms. Kiros would not even be on that committee because they don\u2019t put freshmen on that committee, and she would have no ability to pass that bill,\u201d DeGette said in an interview. \u201cFrankly, what it shows is a lack of knowledge of how power in Washington can really help pass an important bill like Medicare for All.\u201d<\/p>\n

DeGette rejected the comparison of her primary to those in New York.<\/p>\n

\u201cDenver, Colorado, is not New York City,\u201d she said. Indeed, the early vote totals in Colorado are still skewing much older, according to data released by the Colorado Secretary of State\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

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At least three pro-DeGette super PACs are spending to boost the congresswoman, the clearest sign that Kiros has started to gain traction, Colorado Democrats said. A pop-up super PAC, Project 218, is running TV ads accusing Kiros of having \u201cmoved to Denver last year,\u201d bringing an \u201cextreme agenda with her.\u201d DeGette also emphasized her \u201cdeep roots\u201d in the district.<\/p>\n

Kiros grew up in Denver, where her family emigrated to from Ethiopia when she was 11 months old. In 2023, Kiros, then an attorney at Sidley Austin in New York, jumped into the national spotlight. In the aftermath of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, she wrote a Medium post<\/u><\/span> that argued it wasn\u2019t antisemetic to question Israel\u2019s legitimacy as a state. Her post went viral, and she was fired the day after she posted it.<\/u><\/span> She returned to Denver soon after, and is now studying for her PhD.<\/p>\n

Some Democrats raised Kiros\u2019 previous comments about Israel as an area of serious concern, as well as her decision to campaign alongside podcaster Hasan Piker, who has made controversial statements about Israel. In an interview with 9News<\/u><\/span> earlier this week, Kiros declined to call the firebombing attack in Boulder antisemetic.<\/p>\n

When asked by NOTUS about the Boulder attack, Kiros said there was \u201cno question\u201d it was a \u201chate crime\u201d and \u201ca terrorist attack,\u201d but that it was \u201cnot entirely obvious that it was just motivated by antisemitism \u2014 \u201cit\u2019s absolutely possible that that was a part of it as well, but I do think it\u2019s important that we know exactly what the motivation was.\u201d<\/p>\n

She pointed to the ongoing legal case, saying it\u2019s \u201cimportant that we are careful about understanding whether this was an act that was motivated by antisemitism or anti-Zionism.\u201d<\/p>\n

She did say that antisemitism is rising across her state, while putting some of the blame on the Israeli government. \u201cThe reality is the actions of Israel right now and their conflation of Judaism with the actions of the Israeli state is putting so many innocent Jewish people at risk and putting them in danger.\u201d<\/p>\n

DeGette called Kiros\u2019 views on Israel \u201creally extreme.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t agree with everything Israel has done, and I think we need to have extreme humanitarian aid in Gaza,\u201d DeGette said. \u201cBut I also think we have to be very supportive of our Jewish brothers and sisters because a lot of this anger is being turned into antisemitism.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kiros\u2019 position on Israel raised concerns for Kellie Rockey, a 54-year-old voter who volunteered at the city\u2019s Juneteenth parade last weekend. Initially, she said she wanted to vote for Kiros because she had \u201cfire in the belly.\u201d But Rockey recently changed her mind because of Kiros\u2019 \u201clack of nuance that she has shown regarding antisemitic stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a way to be anti-Israel, anti-Zionist without being anti-Jew,\u201d she said, \u201cand she\u2019s not walking that line, unfortunately.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kiros is getting some back-up from her own outside groups, including Justice Democrats and American Priorities PAC, which was formed to support pro-Palestinian candidates. But they\u2019re being widely outspent by pro-DeGette groups.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re seeing last-minute attempts by dark money super PACs to come in and spend millions,\u201d said Usamah Andrabi, Justice Democrats\u2019 communications director. \u201cVoters are increasingly rejecting that on its face.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Missing Rep. Tom Kean Spotted at Home in a Suit and Tie<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A longtime Democratic progressive incumbent is in danger of losing next week to a democratic socialist with momentum.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":696,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2026-election"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat\u2019s Next for Democratic Socialists? It Could Be Denver. - Modern Home Journals<\/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:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=697\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What\u2019s Next for Democratic Socialists? 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