Colorado voters continue left-wing rebellion in Democratic primaries.
Democratic House candidate Melat Kiros at Denver rally for upset primary victory
(Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images) Michael Bennet, who was appointed to the U.S. Senate in 2009, went on to easily win two re-election races and had a reputation for working across the aisle, said early last year that he could do much more in Colorado than in Washington, D.C., and so entered the Democratic gubernatorial race. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, a former dean of the University of Colorado Law School who was completing his second term, had already announced that he would run for the governorship occupied by outgoing Democratic President Jared Polis, for a limited term. But Bennet had the name and the money, and seemed to have the advantage.
That was then. Following dozens of lawsuits filed by Weiser since Donald Trump’s return to the White House, his campaign began to gain momentum early this year and has continued to move forward more quickly. There wasn’t much difference between the two candidates’ platforms, but Bennet was considered a member of the establishment, while Weiser was an outsider. And when the first election results came in to Bennet’s campaign party at the resurrected Schoolyard Beer Garden in Denver, it was clear that Colorado’s Democratic establishment was about to be schooled. In less than an hour, the race was called for Weiser. Bennet will return to the Senate.
After that, the lessons continued. Bennet had served as chief of staff to John Hickenlooper when he was mayor of Denver, before the eccentric moderate Hickenlooper moved to the governor’s office and then the U.S. Senate. It seemed like Hickenlooper had his second term locked in when state Sen. Julie Gonzales ran last December, positioning herself as a progressive alternative to a politician who always considered himself anything but a member of the establishment.
Colorado has long prided itself on being independent and willing to yield to party lines. Nearly 60 years ago, the state was the first to legalize abortion, and Coloradans refused to host the Winter Olympics a few years later, citing concerns about the event’s effects on the environment and who would end up paying the price of hosting the Games. More than half of the state’s voters are unaffiliated, although they are allowed to vote in primaries (most went Democratic this round). In these conditions, politicians often play the role of non-conformists. But this year, Hickenlooper, like Bennet, found himself pushed into the corner of the establishment. So during the home stretch of the primary, he tended to avoid events involving Gonzales.
In this Colorado primary, being assigned a label – the right label – was not a handicap. When Republican Senate candidate Mark Baisley complained that Julie Gonzales’s “Mamdani-style approach to government reflects the belief that more government spending, programs, and intervention are the answer to almost every problem,” it could very well have increased his vote count. She didn’t win, but coming within 10 points of the state’s most popular politician was a victory in itself.
Over the past month, however, the real race to watch, not just in this state, but across the country, has been in Colorado’s 1st Congressional District. This House seat is largely synonymous with Denver and was long held by the legendary Pat Schroeder, one of those mavericks who helped promote Colorado’s image as an independent, outlier country. But for even longer, he has been represented by Diana DeGette, a resolutely discreet workhorse who was seeking her 16th term.
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The most progressive member of Colorado’s congressional delegation, DeGette had already chosen a Democratic challenger: Wanda James, a University of Colorado regent who strategized for Barack Obama and opened the first black-owned marijuana dispensary in the state. Usually, such a context would work well in Colorado. But then Melat Kiros, 29, a democratic socialist and lawyer turned barista, entered the race.
DeGette was already in his first term in Congress when Kiros was born. Her family emigrated to the United States when Kiros was a baby, and after attending law school at Notre Dame, Kiros returned to Denver after being fired by a New York law firm for a letter she published on Substack in November 2023 defending students protesting Israel’s war in Gaza.
As a candidate, Kiros did not shy away from discussing Palestine – a difficult topic in Colorado, where a group of Jewish protesters had been violently attacked in June 2025. In fact, Hasan Piker, a fiery left-wing Twitch streamer, was scheduled to appear at the June 14 “Power to the People: Young, Bold and Unfinished” rally on behalf of Kiros, Gonzales and other progressive candidates; the date was abruptly canceled after several venues refused to host it, with the latter two citing threats and security concerns.
On Instagram, Kiros accused DeGette of “calling out her donor class to silence us.” His team moved the rally to the steps of the state Capitol, with Piker appearing via livestream. “It was a real act of repression,” Kiros told him.
DeGette’s team responded with the most vivid statement of a hard-fought campaign: “If Melat Kiros wants to campaign with someone who says America deserves 9/11, we won’t do anything to stop it.” »
But now, nothing would stop Kiros. Whatever the reason for Piker’s cancellation, his campaign attracted a lot of attention. His insurgent campaign also gained traction thanks to victories by Mandami-backed democratic socialists in New York a week earlier. Last weekend, her race against DeGette topped national news broadcasts.
When the first results came shortly after 7 a.m. p.m.Kiros had a solid lead, and that lead only grew as the night went on. When the race was announced shortly after 10 a.m. p.m.Kiros’ numbers were so strong that even if DeGette had gotten all of James’ votes, Kiros still would have won.
“A year ago, a lot of experienced people were telling us it was impossible,” Kiros told a cheering crowd. “They said you couldn’t beat a president who had been in office for 30 years. They said the establishment and the oligarchy were just too big and too powerful to defeat.”
Whoever they were, they were wrong. “Denver voters of all ages, races and religions have sent a clear message: We will not wait! Kiros went on to promise to end ICE, provide universal health care, and end the genocide in Palestine. “We believe fundamental change can and will happen if we fight for it, if we organize, if we show no fear in standing up for what is right. That’s the message Denver has sent to both parties, to Donald Trump and to the entire country.”
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Hasaan Piker was present on the eve of the elections in Kiros, where fans lined up to greet him. This party lasted until late at night.
This morning, Colorado Republicans are still eager to know which direction their party will take. Barbara Kirkmeyer, a former county commissioner and longtime lawmaker who works alongside Gonzales in the Colorado Senate, is waiting to see if she will maintain her slight advantage over Victor Marx, a well-funded minister who says he killed a man when he was 7 and claims to be able to perform exorcisms over the phone. If Kirkmeyer ends up facing Weiser, she will be the most reasonable Republican candidate for governor in decades; Colorado has had only one Republican governor in more than 50 years. In other Republican primaries, the most centrist candidates also claim victory.
In other words, Colorado Republicans could face an exorcism even without Marx’s victory. But as they move toward the middle, Colorado Democrats are rushing to the left. Political pundits seem stunned by this change. Longtime politicians, who have long bragged about being one with the state’s maverick mentality, seem utterly lost. For progressives, the party is just getting started.
Patricia Calhoun Patricia Calhoun founded Western wordDenver’s first alternative weekly, when Dick Lamm, the Colorado Olympics killer, was still governor. She becomes editor emeritus on July 1, 2026.
