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Colorado socialist ousts 15-term Democrat by 13 points, alarming party veterans

8/9/2026

Democratic socialist Melat Kiros defeated 15-term incumbent Rep.

Diana DeGette by 13 points in Colorado's June Democratic primary, a margin that veteran strategists say signals a structural shift inside the party reaching well beyond New York.

Party veterans absorb the result Doug Friednash, a former Denver city attorney and chief of staff to former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, now a partner at Brownstein, said the scale of the loss stunned him.

"If you had told me this woman would have won by 13 points, I would have bet my house against that," Friednash told Fox News Digital.

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