DSA targets – The Democratic Socialists of America is pushing its agenda into Colorado’s 2026 House primaries, aiming to replicate recent victories that deepened a rift with the party’s center-left wing—setting up high-stakes contests in the 1st and 8th districts and broade
On the eve of Colorado’s primaries, the fight inside the Democratic Party is no longer an argument confined to party meetings or online posts. It’s about which wing gets the next ballot line—and who decides what “progress” looks like when voters show up.
Democratic Socialists of America is setting its sights on Colorado, treating a handful of Tuesday primaries in the Democrat-dominated Rocky Mountain state as the next battleground between the far left and the center-left establishment over the future of the party.
“Today, the East Coast, next week the Mountain West,” the DSA wrote in a social media post last week, hours after ballot-box victories in a handful of congressional primaries in New York City.
The DSA’s push follows a series of defeats for Democratic incumbents and establishment-backed candidates in New York. DSA-aligned Darializa Avila Chevalier, a 32-year-old far-left community organizer, ousted incumbent Democratic Rep. Adriano Espaillat—chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus. Another democratic socialist, state Assembly Member Claire Valdez, also won a congressional primary by defeating an establishment-backed candidate.
Chevalier and Valdez drew energy from Democratic socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. whose support for their candidacies emboldened the far left as it takes on the center-left establishment. The DSA is now looking to replicate its playbook across the country. starting Tuesday with the Democratic primary in Colorado’s 1st Congressional District.
Colorado’s 1st district is a solidly blue seat anchored in Denver. a place where then-Vice President Kamala Harris carried it by a whopping 56 points in the 2024 election. That makes the stakes feel sharper: even in a district that reliably favors Democrats. the internal struggle can still decide who actually represents the party’s future.
In the 1st district, Democratic Rep. Diana DeGette—first elected to Congress three decades ago—is facing two primary challengers. One of them is DSA-backed Melat Kiros, a first-time candidate and former attorney born four months after DeGette first took office.
Kiros lost her job as a lawyer in New York after writing an essay critical of Israel. She is also supported by Justice Democrats, the nearly decade-old political group known for heavily supporting “Squad” members Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib as they toppled entrenched incumbents in their initial elections to Congress.
A DSA social media post urging supporters to rally behind Kiros is explicit about the timing and intent: “ELECT ANOTHER SOCIALIST TO CONGRESS ON JUNE 30TH.”
The divide won’t stay inside the 1st district. It will also play out in the neighboring 8th Congressional District, stretching along the I-25 corridor north of Denver, where immigration has been a top issue in a district where roughly 40% of the population is Latino.
State Rep. Manny Rutinel is running to the left of former state Rep. Shannon Bird. The winner will go on to face Republican Rep. Gabe Evans, who flipped the seat in the 2024 cycle. In the primary fight. Rutinel has criticized Bird for a vote she cast last year opposing a measure limiting cooperation between local and state law enforcement and ICE.
Progressives are also trying to turn the same energy into Senate and gubernatorial pressure across Colorado. Another primary showdown reflecting a split between progressives and moderates—and a generational divide—has been building around the Senate nomination battle between incumbent Sen. John Hickenlooper and former state Sen. Julie Gonzales.
Hickenlooper is 74. He is a former Denver mayor and two-term governor. Gonzales is 43 and has been described as a progressive who was once a one-time DSA member. Hickenlooper’s once-large advantage over Gonzales has narrowed.
The winner in that Senate battle will face Republican state Sen. Mark Baisley, who is unopposed in his primary.
Shannon Jackson, a longtime progressive political strategist and grassroots organizer best known for leadership roles in Sen. Bernie Sanders’ 2016 and 2020 presidential campaigns. pointed to last week’s results and said. “people are frustrated.” Jackson added. “The key message of the victors: Medicare-for-All. the importance of affordability and a living wage. Progressives have long fought for these values and I expect the primary victories to continue.”.
Even the gubernatorial contest—often treated as a referendum on tone and direction—has become expensive and combustible, with Sen. Michael Bennet facing state Attorney General Phil Weiser. Bennet and Weiser will be considered the clear favorite in the race to succeed two-term Democratic Gov. Jared Polis, the first openly gay man elected governor in the nation’s history.
Weiser is running to Bennet’s left on certain issues, and he has closed the gap as he spotlighted his efforts to take on President Donald Trump—including suing Trump 66 times as attorney general.
The winner of the gubernatorial nomination will face either state Rep. Scott Bottoms, state Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer, or pastor and Marine Corps veteran Victor Marx as the Republican nominee.
Across Colorado. the same question is now being tested in multiple races at once: whether Democrats will keep choosing candidates who blend into the party’s center-left tradition—or whether voters will push the party’s internal argument toward the far left. The DSA’s move from New York’s congressional primaries to Colorado’s Tuesday contests makes that decision feel closer. not theoretical.
DSA Democratic Socialists of America Colorado primaries Melat Kiros Diana DeGette Darializa Avila Chevalier Claire Valdez Zohran Mamdani John Hickenlooper Julie Gonzales Michael Bennet Phil Weiser Manny Rutinel Shannon Bird
So basically they’re trying to steal the Democrat votes again? smh.
I don’t get why people act like DSA and “Democrats” are the same team. If they’re unseating Dems in primaries then it feels like splitting the whole party for no reason. But then I guess that’s the point? Idk.
Wait is this the one where they target specific districts like 1st and 8th? I saw something earlier saying “DSA targets” like it was about Republicans, which makes more sense to me for some reason. If it’s actually Democrats vs Democrats then voters are getting played.
This is why politics feels like a reality show. They say it’s “progress,” but it’s just a fight over who controls the ballot line. If they can’t win on the general election they should stop trying to purge their own side. Also Colorado primaries are already confusing—now we got DSA doing the East Coast/Mountain West thing like they’re running a tour bus.