2026年11月4日 美国东部时间上午6:00 / CBS新闻
华盛顿讯 — 梅拉特·基罗斯在7月的科罗拉多州初选中击败民主党众议员黛安娜·德盖特，她出生于1997年，而正是这一年德盖特开启了她数十年的国会生涯。
周二晚间，这位29岁的民主社会主义者创下历史，成为首位当选国会议员的Z世代女性。基罗斯将加入佛罗里达州民主党众议员麦克斯韦·弗罗斯特的行列，后者在2022年成为1997年至2012年间出生的一代人中首位赢得国会席位的成员。
在接受CBS新闻采访时，基罗斯拒绝透露弗罗斯特作为最年轻议员给了她什么建议，但表示弗罗斯特“在帮助我了解以我们这般年纪进入国会是怎样的体验方面，真的非常贴心”。
她坦言自己还有很多东西要学：“真正令人望而生畏的是，要想在国会发挥作用所需的知识储备量极为庞大，这需要时间去积累和建立。”
尽管如此，基罗斯仍表示，她将自己的年轻“视为最大的优势之一”。
“我不受过去的传统和规范束缚，”她说。
基罗斯出生于埃塞俄比亚亚的斯亚贝巴，幼年时随家人移居丹佛。她于2018年毕业于马里兰州华盛顿学院，主修政治学和经济学，随后在2022年获得圣母大学法学学位。
2023年，她因拒绝撤下一份公开信而被纽约市一家顶尖律师事务所解雇。这封信的对象是数十家曾敦促法学院院长打压校园内反犹太主义的律师事务所，当时正值学生们声援巴勒斯坦的抗议活动。基罗斯谴责反犹太主义，但警告包括她所在律所在内的这些律师事务所，不要将“这种偏见与以色列合法性的地缘政治问题混为一谈”。
她在2023年11月写道：“这封信并未明确威胁 signatory 律所的潜在雇佣机会，但其寒蝉效应不可否认。质疑政府合法性及其行动的权利，是真正民主的基本原则。尽管以色列自称中东唯一的民主国家，但以色列政府已将反犹太主义武器化，以捍卫其对巴勒斯坦人民的罪行，并压制任何针对它的抵抗或批评。”
被解雇后，基罗斯对政治的思考变得更加深入。她搬回科罗拉多州，并于2024年加入民主党国会候选人约翰·帕多拉的竞选团队，担任通讯主管。正是在特朗普赢得第二个总统任期后，她才考虑参选。
“那次选举本不该输，我认为我们输掉的很大一部分原因是民主党失去了与选民的联系，”她说。
基罗斯在初选中获胜，是今年春夏左翼 insurgent 胜利浪潮的一部分，这引发了民主党关于发展方向的争论。在搬回科罗拉多州后，基罗斯一边攻读公共政策博士学位，一边做咖啡师，她将自己的国会参选定位为围绕代际变革展开。她以负担能力问题和反对美国对以色列的支持为竞选核心议题，同时将德盖特描绘成受企业捐款人操控的形象。德盖特批评这位政治新人经验不足，认为“现在不是冒险送一位没有经验的人去华盛顿的时候”。
基罗斯表示：“我认为，人们非常渴望看到一位更年轻、有过我们当下所处经济和即将面临气候危机后果经历的人出现。”
随着竞选势头渐盛，基罗斯已暂停博士学业，她说自己不得不减少咖啡师的轮班，并借住一位朋友的房子，支付低于市场水平的租金。
“年轻人在任何级别竞选都极其艰难，”基罗斯说，“我们国家的选举组织方式对年轻人和工薪阶层极为不利。”
前国会候选人帕多拉表示，他“对她崛起至全国政坛毫不意外”，称基罗斯能够触动“许多美国人对脱离民众的政治建制派的深切不满和蔑视”。
“梅拉特的政治崛起表明，下一代无需脱离实际的政党建制派的祝福、支持或许可，就可以追求公职，”帕多拉在给CBS新闻的电子邮件中写道。
根据未来核心小组的研究，2026年中期选举中，共有117名Z世代候选人申请参选国会。报告发现，与其他年龄组相比，Z世代候选人进入大选阶段的可能性更低，只有24人出现在11月的选票上。
根据宪法，大多数Z世代成员无资格担任国会议员。众议院议员的最低年龄为25岁，参议院为30岁。
基罗斯表示，国会进步核心小组的成员也在帮助她和其他新当选的年轻成员适应华盛顿的工作，以便他们能够迅速上手。
“就像确保你住得离国会大厦足够近，这样就能尽快到达，这些都是简单的事情，”基罗斯说，“没人会主动告诉你这些，你得自己想办法。但现任进步派议员确实非常用心地确保我们做好了充分准备，这样我们就不会把太多时间花在入职和学习规则上。”
明年1月上任后，基罗斯希望民主党专注于推翻包含在特朗普《一个伟大美丽法案》中的对医疗补助和补充营养援助计划的削减。她的其他政策目标包括终止对以色列的军事援助、废除移民和海关执法局，以及为“为所有人提供医疗保险”、普及儿童保育和养老护理奠定基础。
基罗斯表示，随着她的获胜，选民已经明确希望当选官员能为解决负担能力危机提出“大胆举措”。
“我们之前提出的任何方案都远远不够，”她说，“为了保持这股势头，我们必须为美国人民带来真正有意义和切实的成果。”
Melat Kiros makes history as first woman from Gen Z elected to Congress
November 4, 2026 / 6:00 AM EST / CBS News
Washington — Melat Kiros, who defeated Democratic Rep. Diana DeGette in Colorado’s primary in July, was born in 1997, the same year DeGette began her decadeslong congressional career.
On Tuesday night, the 29-year-old democratic socialist made history as the first Generation Z woman to be elected to Congress. Kiros joins Democratic Rep. Maxwell Frost of Florida, who in 2022 was the first member of the generation born between 1997 and 2012 to win a congressional seat.
In an interview with CBS News, Kiros declined to say what advice she’s received from Frost about entering Congress as the youngest member, but said he’s “been really wonderful in helping me get a sense of what it’s like walking into this institution as young as we are.”
She knows she has a lot to learn: “What’s intimidating is the sheer amount of knowledge that is necessary to be able to be effective in Congress, and that’s going to take time to grow and build.”
Nonetheless, Kiros says she thinks of her youth “as one of my greatest advantages.”
“I’m not burdened by the traditions and the norms of the past,” she said.
Born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Kiros’ family immigrated to Denver when she was a baby. She graduated from Washington College in Maryland in 2018, where she studied political science and economics, before earning a law degree from the University of Notre Dame in 2022.
She was fired from a top New York City law firm in 2023 after she refused to take down an open letter to dozens of law firms who had urged law school deans to crack down on antisemitism on campuses as students engaged in pro-Palestinian protests. Kiros condemned antisemitism, but warned the law firms, including the one she worked for, against conflating “such bigotry with the geo-political question of Israel’s legitimacy.”
“While the letter makes no explicit threats against one’s potential employment with the signatories’ firms, the chilling effect is undeniable,” she wrote in November 2023. “The right to question not only the legitimacy of a government but also its actions is the bedrock principle of a true democracy. And despite claiming to be the one and only democracy in the Middle East, the Israeli government has weaponized anti-Semitism to defend its crimes against the Palestinian people and quell any resistance or critique against it.”
Kiros started thinking more seriously about politics in general after her firing. She moved back to Colorado and joined Democratic congressional candidate John Padora’s campaign in 2024 as his communications director. It was after President Trump won a second term that she considered running.
“That’s not an election we should have lost, and I believe a big part of why we lost is because the Democratic Party lost touch with its voters,” she said.
Kiros’ primary win was part of a wave of leftwing insurgent victories in the spring and summer that kindled the Democratic Party’s fight over the direction of the party. Kiros, who worked as a barista while pursuing a doctoral degree in public policy after her move back to Colorado, framed her congressional bid around generational change. She made affordability and her opposition to U.S. support for Israel central themes of her campaign, while casting DeGette as beholden to corporate donors. DeGette knocked the political newcomer for her lack of experience, arguing “now is not the time to gamble and send somebody with no experience to Washington.”
“People, I think, were really eager to see someone who is younger, who has lived experience with the economy that we’re living through right now, the climate crisis that we are going to have to deal with the consequences of,” Kiros said.
As the campaign gained momentum, Kiros, who has paused her PhD studies, said she had to reduce her barista shifts and stay with a friend who charged her below-market rent.
“It’s incredibly hard for young people to run campaigns at any level,” Kiros said. “The way that we organize our election system in this country is extremely prohibitive for young people, for working-class people.”
Padora, the former congressional candidate, said he was “not the least bit surprised by her rise to national politics,” saying Kiros was able to tap into “the deep frustration and disdain many Americans feel toward a disconnected political establishment.”
“Melat’s political rise demonstrates that the next generation doesn’t need the blessing, backing, or permission of a disconnected party establishment to pursue public office,” Padora said in an email to CBS News.
According to research from Future Caucus, 117 candidates from Gen Z filed to run for Congress in the 2026 midterm elections. The report found Gen Z candidates were less likely to make it to the general election compared with other age groups, with just 24 candidates appearing on the November ballots.
Under the Constitution, most of Gen Z is ineligible to serve in Congress. The minimum age to serve in the House is 25. In the Senate it’s 30.
Kiros said members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus have also been helping her and other new, young members navigate the transition to Washington so they can hit the ground running.
“It’s just things as simple as like, make sure you live close enough to the Capitol so you can get there as quickly as possible,” Kiros said. “No one really tells you any of this. You’re just kind of expected to figure it out on your own. But the progressive incumbent members have been really, really intentional about making sure that we are as prepared as possible, so that we’re not spending so much time onboarding and learning the ropes.”
Come January, Kiros wants Democrats to focus on reversing the cuts to Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program that were included in Mr. Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. Her other policy goals include ending military aid to Israel, abolishing Immigration and Customs Enforcement and laying the groundwork for Medicare for All, universal childcare and eldercare.
With her victory, Kiros said voters have made clear that they want their elected officials to champion “bold issues” to address the affordability crisis.
“Whatever we’ve offered before is simply not enough,” she said. “And in order for us to maintain this momentum, we’re going to have to deliver something truly meaningful and tangible to the American people.”