Progressive challengers – Colorado’s Democratic primaries are turning into a test of whether long-established incumbents can hold on. In June 30 contests, U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette faces a rare, high-profile challenge from democratic socialist Melat Kiros, while Sen. Michael Bennet and S
For Colorado Democrats, June 30 isn’t just another primary date—it’s a stress test of the party’s most familiar faces, and of how quickly the electorate can swing when it feels the “safe” choice is no longer safe.
In Denver-area politics, the mood is shifting in public view and in campaign math. A 29-year-old newcomer, Melat Kiros, is trying to upset 15-term U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette in a race drawing national attention. Meanwhile, Colorado’s Democratic gubernatorial primary has tightened around a late surge involving Attorney General Phil Weiser against Sen. Michael Bennet. And in the Senate contest for reelection, 74-year-old John Hickenlooper is being pressed from the left by state Sen. Julie Gonzales.
At the center of it all is the same pressure point: the incumbents are still well-known, still well-funded—but in these contests, progressives and insurgent candidates are making “establishment” feel like a liability.
“The mood everywhere is anti-incumbent and pro-populism/disruption, and you can see it here, even though the state has trended reliably Democratic,” said Kyle Saunders, a longtime political science professor at Colorado State University.
Kiros’ bid to unseat DeGette turns into a generational fight
The most nationally watched primary in Colorado is the Democratic race in the Denver-based 1st Congressional District, where democratic socialist Melat Kiros is challenging 15-term Democratic U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette.
Kiros, 29, is backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont. Sanders describes Kiros as “exactly the kind of bold leader” who “knows that the current political and economic systems are broken and need bold reform.”
DeGette. 68. has spent nearly three decades in Congress and is currently in line to become the top Democrat on the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee. She served as an impeachment manager in the second impeachment trial of President Donald Trump in 2021. Her political biography is extensive: first elected in 1996 and repeatedly reelected by wide margins. The district is heavily Democratic and has not sent a Republican to Congress since 1970.
Kiros’ challenge is not just ideological—it’s personal, and it has a specific timeline. Kiros’ parents immigrated to Colorado from Ethiopia when she was a toddler. She began her congressional campaign last year after losing her job as an associate at a New York securities law firm. The reason. according to her campaign path. was that she posted a public letter defending critics of Israel’s military action in Gaza from accusations of antisemitism in November 2023.
Back in Colorado, Kiros has worked part-time as a barista while pursuing a doctorate in public affairs at the University of Colorado-Denver since returning to Colorado.
Israel has become a flashpoint in the race, but one analyst says DeGette’s biggest vulnerability is her longevity.
Erin Covey, the House of Representatives editor for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, which forecasts U.S. elections, said, “The generational component intensifies the ideological contrast between the two of them.”
The primary results and ballot-access rules show how close the challenge has become even before the June vote. DeGette narrowly qualified for the June primary ballot by finishing second to Kiros during the 1st District Democratic assembly in March.
Colorado requires candidates to receive at least 30% of the vote at the preprimary party assembly to earn ballot access. DeGette received 33%, while Kiros received 67%.
Covey said Kiros “was able to sneak up on her,” calling it “a clear warning sign that there was real energy behind Kiros’ campaign, and DeGette was caught off guard by it.”
Outside polling continues to suggest a tight finish. A June 19 survey by the news site Zeteo showed DeGette trailing Kiros 41% to 36%.
Saunders described the dynamic as more than sentiment. The “safe-seat bargain” in Colorado, he said, has long meant: “keep your head down, don’t embarrass anybody, and the seat’s yours until you decide to leave.”
“Kiros is calling that a bad deal, and enough Democratic voters are nodding along that DeGette is sweating in late June,” Saunders said.
The race is also shaped by how change votes split when multiple challengers pursue the same energy.
Kiros is trying to capture momentum similar to the victorious congressional slate endorsed by New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani. That slate included Brad Lander, Darializa Avila Chevalier, and Claire Valdez, a trio who favored abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and labeled Israel’s actions in Gaza a genocide.
Sanders’ endorsement could help Kiros separate herself from another Democrat in the same conversation of change. University of Colorado Regent and business owner Wanda James is also running for DeGette’s spot and promises similar changes, Saunders noted.
“It’s the Colorado version of the energy that’s powered the New York primaries, but with a Colorado twist: because Kiros and James are both chasing the ‘change vote,’ they may split it, and hand DeGette a plurality win,” Saunders said.
Saunders also pointed to Colorado’s semi-open primary as a factor that can make upset math harder. Roughly half of the state’s voters are unaffiliated with either party, and they are allowed to vote in primaries, which can make it harder for more extreme candidates.
“Colorado’s semi-open primary lets unaffiliated voters in, which could dilute exactly the kind of closed-primary base mobilization that fueled an upset in New York,” Saunders said.
Bennet vs. Weiser tightens as final-door campaigns could decide it
In Colorado’s Democratic gubernatorial primary, the race to succeed term-limited Gov. Jared Polis is also moving toward a finish that feels less predictable than it did earlier this year.
Three-term Sen. Michael Bennet is attempting to beat state Attorney General Phil Weiser, who has out-fundraised Bennet and is climbing in the polls. Democrats have won every Rocky Mountain State gubernatorial election since 2008.
Bennet once had a 27-point lead in a Keating Research poll in February, but the race has tightened. In May, a Colorado Community Research poll had Weiser ahead of Bennet by seven points. In June, another poll—conducted by Public Policy Polling—had Bennet ahead by six points.
With close to a fifth of the electorate still undecided, the final push matters. “those knocking on doors in the final hours seeking votes could decide the outcome,” Saunders said.
Saunders called the contest “a genuine toss-up” but argued Bennet remains “the safer bet” because of better name recognition, a deeper network, and far more money in his orbit.
“But this race has tightened enough that he has to sweat it,” Saunders said.
As the governor’s race tightens, so do the attack lines.
Matthew Klein. an elections analyst who wrote for the Cook Political Report on June 23. said the contest has featured “increasingly bitter attacks” that were “less centered on specific policies and more about which candidate has ‘the chutzpah’ — a Yiddish word meaning audacity — to push back against Trump.”.
Klein also said Bennet is framing himself as a champion for change, but that his long tenure in an unproductive Congress may be a handicap among Democratic voters frustrated with the status quo.
Bennet is known as a centrist Democrat. He was among the “Gang of Eight. ” a bipartisan group that created a sweeping immigration reform bill in 2013. and was a key proponent of expanded Child Tax Credit. He unsuccessfully ran for president in 2020, focusing on restoring integrity in government and economic mobility.
Fundraising numbers underline why the race is harder to dismiss
Money is part of the story in this primary as well.
Saunders said both candidates were on a record pace for funding thanks to outside interests. even though Weiser had raised more money than Bennet. The comparison comes from the Colorado Secretary of State’s office: Weiser raised $6.4 million in direct campaign donations. while Bennet raised $4.6 million.
Bennet-aligned super PAC Rocky Mountain Way has banked roughly $10.3 million—several times more than the pro-Weiser PAC. Most of that money has come from billionaire and former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg. a centrist billionaire Democrat who was first elected as a Republican. then as an independent.
Klein, Saunders, and the polling data all point to the same public question: if the electorate is already in an anti-incumbent mood, does the traditional fundraising and recognition advantage still translate into control?
Hickenlooper faces a progressive challenger that attacks tone and posture
Even the Senate seat for reelection is not immune.
John Hickenlooper, a former Colorado governor and Denver mayor, is seeking reelection to the Senate after one term. His Democratic primary challenger is progressive Colorado state Sen. Julie Gonzales, 43, who argues a younger voice is needed.
Hickenlooper is 74. Saunders said Hickenlooper, who has a sizable fundraising advantage, is still favored to win.
Hickenlooper has a background that stands out in a campaign full of labels. He has been a former petroleum geologist and brewpub owner. As governor. he called himself an “extreme moderate. ” and was known for enthusiastically supporting hydraulic fracturing. also known as fracking. a controversial method of extracting natural gas and oil.
Gonzales argues Hickenlooper has failed to offer a “bold and fierce critique” of the Trump administration.
Polling shows a contest that could either solidify around the incumbent or widen if voters treat Gonzales’ generational pitch as a statement about who Democrats should be.
Saunders said Hickenlooper leads Gonzales 41% to 34% in the primary, according to a June 8 poll released by Colorado Community Research.
Saunders framed Gonzales’ challenge as more than a personal attack. “What (Gonzales is) doing is exposing the gap between where the Democratic base is right now and where a 74-year-old institutionalist sits. ” he said. “Her pitch is generational change and a more confrontational posture toward Trump. and the fact that it’s getting any traction at all against an incumbent of Hickenlooper’s stature tells you the Democratic base is restless.”.
Hickenlooper’s campaign decision to not debate Gonzales is now part of the political calculus.
Saunders described that choice as “a move of someone protecting a lead, not someone who’s nervous.”
Where the Colorado primaries stand right now
Across these races, the story is converging: incumbents still carry gravity, but challengers are finding room to compete—sometimes by reframing policy into identity, sometimes by selling generational change, and sometimes by banking on the electorate’s appetite for disruption.
For DeGette. it’s a nearly three-decade tenure versus a newcomer backed by Bernie Sanders. with ballot-access numbers and polls suggesting the safe-seat assumption is fraying. For Bennet. the governor’s race has slid from a large early lead to a close. door-knocking finish shaped by fundraising and the intensity of attacks. And for Hickenlooper. a progressive challenger is taking on not just votes but tone—pressing for “bold and fierce” confrontation with the Trump administration.
And in each contest, time is running out in the same direction. Late June decision-making won’t just reveal which candidate is most popular—it will show how much patience Colorado’s Democratic voters still have for the old guard.
Colorado primaries Democratic incumbents Melat Kiros Diana DeGette Michael Bennet Phil Weiser John Hickenlooper Julie Gonzales Bernie Sanders political challengers campaign fundraising fracking Democratic politics