Melat Kiros defeated incumbent Diana DeGette and Wanda James in the Democratic primary for Colorado's 1st Congressional District on June 30.
In Colorado, major party candidates qualify for the primary ballot by either winning at least 30% of the vote at a district-level assembly or by meeting the state's signature requirement. Both Kiros and DeGette qualified via the assembly process, with Kiros receiving 67% of the vote and DeGette 33%. James qualified through the signature process.
Axios Denver's Esteban L. Hernandez wrote, "Kiros' rise is turning the race into a test case for incumbents facing an electorate increasingly hungry for change." A Democratic Socialist, Kiros positioned herself to the left of DeGette and called DeGette an establishment Democrat. James similarly criticized DeGette's record, saying, "Clearly, people don’t know when they should step down, when their time has come and gone, when they have outlived their effectiveness. It has been decades since we have seen any real leadership from her office."
DeGette said she was a progressive who was in a congressional leadership position to lead "Democrats' efforts to cut health care costs, expand access to lifelong treatments, and advance Medicare for All." DeGette added, "It would be a very bad choice to pick somebody who has never even served in Congress or a legislature."
According to Westword's Hannah Metzger, "DeGette’s struggles at the party assembly do not necessarily mean she’ll fail at the primary. Many candidates have lost at assembly but went on to win their primaries, including Republican U.S. Representative Ken Buck in 2022 and Democratic Governor Jared Polis in 2018." According to the The Colorado Sun's Jesse Paul, the assembly process "is not representative of the broader electorate. ... Only Democratic voters can participate in the caucus and assembly process, whereas Democrats and unaffiliated voters can vote in the party’s primaries."
DeGette was elected to the U.S. House in 1996 and is the second-longest serving U.S. representative in the state's history. DeGette campaigned on her record, saying, "We need seasoned people who can fight for us in Washington, who can fight against Donald Trump’s illegal war, who can fight not just to defund but also dismantle ICE. And we need someone who will be a leader in the next Congress when we take the majority."
James was elected to District 1 of the University of Colorado Board of Regents in 2022 and is CEO of Simply Pure, a cannabis dispensary. James said, "Real change will not come from the same politicians who built this broken system. Denver deserves leadership that delivers results and puts working families first. I am running to fight for affordable housing, fair wages, and an economy where every family has a chance to build a secure life."
Kiros is a former lawyer and Ph.D. student at the University of Colorado Denver School of Public Affairs. Kiros said, "Establishment Democrats are beholden to the same billionaires who keep our prices high, burn our planet, and profit from a genocide. We can change that. It starts by changing who we send to Congress. I'll always stand for Medicare for All, Housing First, Universal Childcare, and an Arms Embargo."
As of July 2026, The Cook Political Report with Amy Walter, Inside Elections with Nathan L. Gonzales, and Larry J. Sabato's Crystal Ball rated the district Solid/Safe Democratic.
