Democratic Socialist Ousts Incumbent Democrat in Colorado House Primary Upset

Melat Kiros’ victory marks a major upset and follows on the heels of a string of democratic socialist candidate victories in House races in New York.

Democratic congressional candidate Melat Kiros speaks to supporters at an election-night watch party after winning the Colorado primary in Denver on June 30, 2026. Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images

In a major political upset on Tuesday, democratic socialist Melat Kiros was declared victorious over longtime Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.).

At 12:03 a.m. ET, the Associated Press projected that Kiros would win the race, defeating the long-serving incumbent. With 84 percent of the vote counted, Kiros led with 49.3 percent to DeGette’s 43.5, while University of Colorado Regent Wanda James racked up around 7.2 percent of the vote.

DeGette has not yet conceded the race.

“Thank you to everyone who showed up, knocked doors, and cast a ballot. Your voice is what matters in this election, and we‘ll make sure it’s heard. It looks like we won’t have final results tonight but we’ll keep monitoring the returns as they come in. I remain grateful for your support and for the honor of representing this city we love,” she wrote in a post on X around 45 minutes before the Associated Press called the race.

Kiros’ victory marks a major upset and follows the victories of two democratic socialist candidates in House races in New York. Democrats nominated democratic socialists Claire Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier in two districts, with endorsements from New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

Kiros had received backing from progressive heavyweight Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) ahead of the election.

“Melat Kiros has shown she is not afraid to stand up to corrupt special interests like AIPAC and Big Pharma,” Sanders wrote in a June 28 post on X encouraging Coloradans to vote for Kiros. “She’s exactly the kind of bold leader we need in Congress.”

But few expected a repeat of last week’s New York elections to play out in Colorado’s First Congressional District on Tuesday night: DeGette’s seat had been broadly presumed to be safe by observers in light of her nearly three decades of incumbency.

DeGette was first elected to the House in 1997—the same year Kiros was born.

Still, the candidate had received warning signs in the closing days of the race.

An early June poll by Data for Progress, a Democratic sponsor, had found Kiros leading in the primary.

The 29-year-old, Ethiopia-born candidate is now poised to become the first woman who’s a member of Generation Z in Congress.

If she wins the November election in the heavily Democratic, Denver-based congressional district, she would become the youngest member of the lower chamber, a title currently held by Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-Fla.).