Colorado Primaries Deliver Mixed Results: DSA Wins One House Seat, Moderates Hold Elsewhere

DeGette Falls After 29 Years

The most striking result Tuesday came out of Denver. Melat Kiros defeated Rep. Diana DeGette, 49.3% to 43.5%, according to the Associated Press race call. DeGette, 68, had held Colorado's 1st Congressional District since 1997, the same year Kiros was born.

Kiros is a 29-year-old Ph.D. student and former attorney who emigrated from Ethiopia. She ran on Medicare for All, universal childcare, abolishing ICE, publicly financed elections, and ending U.S. military aid to Israel. She swore off corporate PAC money and made DeGette's donations from defense contractors, pharmaceutical companies, and energy firms a centerpiece of her attack.

DeGette was not without backing. She carried endorsements from Colorado's Democratic congressional delegation, Planned Parenthood Action Fund, and several labor unions. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters Monday that DeGette was "forcefully making her case," while offering the cautious read: "We'll see what happens." Jeffries attributed competitive primaries in deep-blue districts to what he called Trump's "unsettled electoral environment," according to CBS News.

The district is solidly Democratic. Kiros is now the heavy favorite in November.

The DSA's Winning Streak

Kiros's win is the latest in a run of Democratic Socialists of America victories. The DSA had already claimed three House primary wins in New York City in the weeks prior: Darializa Avila Chevalier defeated five-term incumbent Adriano Espaillat, and Claire Valdez won the open seat vacated by retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez. State Rep. Chris Rabb won a DSA-backed primary in Pennsylvania's 3rd Congressional District in May as well, according to NPR.

The DSA foreshadowed Tuesday's result explicitly. After the New York wins, the organization posted: "Today, the East Coast, next week the Mountain West," according to Fox News.

If Kiros wins in November, she would join Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rep. Rashida Tlaib as self-described democratic socialists in the House.

Fair Accounting on Kiros

Kiros's critics raise two specific concerns. First, she was terminated from a New York law firm in 2023 after publishing an open letter arguing that pro-Palestinian protesters calling for the elimination of Israel were not engaging in antisemitism, according to Fox News. Second, she described Hamas's October 7, 2023, attack on Israel as an "inevitable consequence" of Israeli actions, according to the New York Post.

Those are her stated positions, on the record. Voters in the 1st District knew them and chose her anyway, 49.3% to 43.5%. Whether those positions become liabilities in a general election in a safely blue district is a genuinely open question, but the margin suggests they did not cost her the primary.

Her supporters would argue, accurately, that DeGette herself supports abolishing ICE, backed Medicare for All, and served on the Congressional Progressive Caucus. The sharpest real difference between the two candidates was Israel policy and corporate donors, not the broad ideological spectrum.

Moderates Are Not Dead Yet

The progressive wave hit a wall in two other Colorado contests Tuesday.

Sen. John Hickenlooper, 74, survived a challenge from state Sen. Julie Gonzales, 43, in the Democratic Senate primary. Gonzales attacked Hickenlooper's votes in favor of some of Trump's nominees and his "commonsense approach" to governing. Hickenlooper has said this will be his final Senate campaign, according to Fox News. Progressive insurgents did not sweep every available race.

In the Democratic governor's race, Attorney General Phil Weiser defeated Sen. Michael Bennet, a senator and former 2020 presidential candidate. Bennet had entered the race with endorsements from over 200 Colorado leaders including Sen. Hickenlooper and multiple sitting House members, according to Fox News. Weiser built his own coalition of former governors, former mayors, and progressive organizations. With Democratic Gov. Jared Polis term-limited, Weiser is now the favorite in November in a state Democrats have dominated at the statewide level.

Bennet's Senate seat is not at stake in this cycle; his term runs through 2028.

Republicans Settle Their Own Fights

On the GOP side, Rep. Jeff Hurd survived a right-wing primary challenge from former state Rep. Ron Hanks in Colorado's 3rd Congressional District, a sprawling district covering western and southern Colorado. Hurd ran with President Trump's endorsement. Trump briefly revoked that endorsement in February after Hurd voted with Democrats on a measure terminating Canada tariffs, then re-issued it in March, according to Fox News. Trump also asked another primary challenger, Hope Scheppelman, to stand down and join his administration, which she did.

Hanks, an Air Force veteran, had previously claimed without evidence that former President Biden was "fraudulently elected" and was present during the January 6 Capitol riot, though he was not charged, according to Fox News.

Rep. Lauren Boebert ran unopposed in the Republican primary for Colorado's 4th Congressional District, the seat she moved to in 2024 after concluding she could not win in her original district. Trump called her "weak-minded" in May over her support for Rep. Thomas Massie and floated finding a replacement candidate, but no serious challenger materialized, according to Fox News. Boebert is now set to pursue a fourth term in November.

The Competitive Race That Could Decide the House

In Colorado's 8th Congressional District, state Rep. Manny Rutinel won the Democratic primary and will face Republican incumbent Rep. Gabe Evans, who won the seat in 2024 by just 0.8 percentage points, according to Fox News. Evans's campaign immediately labeled Rutinel a "far-left, radical socialist" and drew comparisons to New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Rutinel's platform includes expanding taxes on the wealthy and universal healthcare.

The race is considered one of the most competitive House contests in the country heading into November, and its outcome will factor directly into whether Republicans hold their narrow House majority.