2026-06-28T10:30:25.969Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/28/politics/melat-kiros-democratic-socialist-colorado-diana-degette
在上周于纽约取得一系列颠覆性胜利后不久，这场新兴进步主义运动的成员就开始将目光投向他们的下一个目标：科罗拉多州第一国会选区。
29岁的民主社会主义者、律师梅拉特·基罗斯正在挑战任职15届的众议员戴安娜·德盖特，角逐丹佛这个稳固蓝营选区的席位。她和盟友们希望，这里的选民也已准备好迎接变革。
“我认为选民们已经意识到，民主党及其领导层未能切实应对当前局势，现在是时候选出真正为劳工阶层利益奋斗的领导人了，”基罗斯在接受CNN采访时说道。
但随着愈发大胆的左翼阵营着眼于周二的初选，试图在纽约市市长佐赫兰·曼达尼所支持的所有美国众议院候选人都赢得初选的势头基础上乘胜追击之际，一些人警告称，丹佛并非纽约市。
曾帮助构建科罗拉多州民主党基础设施的资深民主党策略师德德·特林帕警告其所在政党，不要对上周的选举结果过度解读。
“曼达尼不是民主党人的救世主，”特林帕说，“如果民主党人认为他是，那他们就走错了方向。”
该州约有一半选民无党派归属。尽管民主党人掌控着两个参议院席位和州长职位，但科罗拉多州历来更倾向于选举愿意背离本党路线的温和派候选人。
然而，这种时而展现独立立场的倾向正日益受到抨击。上月，州长贾里德·波利斯因对选举否认者蒂娜·彼得斯行使赦免权，遭到州民主党委员会谴责。该州两名参议员——一名寻求连任、另一名参选州长——也因过去投票支持唐纳德·特朗普总统内阁成员而遭遇反弹。
在州议员克莱尔·巴尔德斯和达里亚利扎·阿维拉·谢瓦利尔预计在纽约初选中获胜后的数小时内，获得正义民主党支持的其他候选人便在群聊中讨论如何通过筹款、电话拉票或亲自助选等方式助力基罗斯。
“本选举周期的每一场竞选都为下一场增添了更多势头，”该组织发言人乌萨马·安德拉比说道，该组织支持反对企业政治行动委员会捐款的进步派候选人。“同样让我们深感自豪的是，我们每位获胜的候选人都会积极助力下一位候选人，将这份善意传递下去。”
德盖特过去也曾面临初选挑战，但该州的民主党策略师表示，这可能是这位现任议员多年来遭遇的最严峻竞选。
今年春季，德盖特和基罗斯都试图通过政党主导的党团会议和 assembly 程序获得参选资格，候选人需要获得30%的政党活动人士支持才能进入初选投票名单。在德盖特勉强合格，且支持率落后于基罗斯后，她加大了竞选力度。
“我认为这可能是她迄今为止遭遇的最有力挑战，但我也认为她正以应有的严肃态度应对这场竞选，”一位要求匿名以便坦率发言的科罗拉多州资深民主党策略师说道，“任何一种结果出现，我都不会感到意外。”
本次竞选的第三名候选人、科罗拉多大学董事会成员万达·詹姆斯通过收集选民签名获得了参选资格。
第一国会选区的初选围绕熟悉的议题展开，候选人就谁最适合对抗特朗普政府展开交锋。
“我之前赢过有竞争的初选，对这次选举我也充满信心，”德盖特在给CNN的一份声明中说道，“我正全力以赴，每天都在和选民探讨对当地家庭至关重要的议题，而非其他州上演的全国性叙事。”
本次竞选的核心议题还包括基罗斯对美以关系的强烈批评。这位首次参选的候选人2023年被一家律所解雇，原因是她拒绝删除一封公开信，信中辩称学生抗议者呼吁消除以色列不应被等同于反犹太主义。
但她有关美以政策的一些言论也引发了审视。她近期因拒绝将一场针对声援哈马斯扣押的以色列人质的抗议者的纵火袭击定性为反犹太主义而遭到批评。袭击造成一人死亡、十余人受伤，调查人员称袭击者策划了一年之久，并告诉警方其动机是“杀死所有犹太复国主义者”。
“我不知道袭击者内心在想什么，”基罗斯在接受9新闻采访时说道，“我只知道他袭击了无辜民众，仅仅因为他们可能持有的信仰。”
本月早些时候获得参议员伯尼·桑德斯迟来背书的基罗斯，批评德盖特接受企业政治行动委员会的捐款。这位现任议员为自己的进步派资质辩护，指出她曾作为弹劾经理参与弹劾特朗普的工作，以此作为她对抗特朗普记录的证据。
“现在不是冒险派毫无经验的人前往华盛顿的时候，”已代表科罗拉多州最自由派选区近30年的德盖特在本月早些时候的一场候选人论坛上说道。
在选举的最后几天，大量资金涌入该选区以支持德盖特，其中包括来自支持堕胎权多数派行动组织的超过150万美元捐款。
该组织投放了正面广告，称德盖特是“对抗特朗普的最强声音”，是“全民医保”和废除移民海关执法局的倡导者。他们同时也对基罗斯发起攻击。一个于4月29日注册的超级政治行动委员会“英里高问责项目”投放的一则广告称基罗斯是近期才搬到丹佛的居民，并指责她企图分裂民主党人。广告称其支持者想要废除警察、解散参议院并退出北约。
“唐纳德·特朗普喜欢基罗斯这样的民主党人，”广告中说道，“够了，别再攻击民主党人了。够了，别再制造分裂了。”
基罗斯的家人在她年幼时从埃塞俄比亚移民到丹佛，她称有关她刚搬到该州的批评“毫无尊重”，并表示其他攻击言论歪曲了她的过往记录。
“对很多选民来说，这显然是 desperation（绝望之举），”她说，“坦率地说，这听起来也像是共和党人的做派，根本没有谈及丹佛市民真正关心的议题——也就是如何让这座城市变得让他们负担得起。”
基罗斯的竞选活动与本周科罗拉多州其他几位测试选民对变革接受度的候选人同步展开。
“我认为所有人都感到紧张，”科罗拉多州民主党策略师阿尔维娜·巴斯克斯说道，“我不认为有人有十足的把握。”
在参议院选举中，进步派州参议员朱莉·冈萨雷斯正在挑战现任议员约翰·希肯卢珀。希肯卢珀是科罗拉多州政坛的长期人物，在前往华盛顿前曾担任该州州长。
“约翰·希肯卢珀已经任职20多年了，”她在竞选广告中说道，“我知道我们不会被他所谓的‘常识性’手段蒙蔽，因为投票支持特朗普的提名者毫无意义可言。”
希肯卢珀曾投票支持多名特朗普内阁提名者，包括财政部长斯科特·贝森特、农业部长布鲁克·罗林斯和能源部长克里斯·赖特。但这位参议员的发言人在一份声明中指出，他曾反对多名其他提名者，包括前国土安全部部长克里斯蒂·诺姆、卫生部长小罗伯特·F·肯尼迪和国防部长皮特·赫格斯塞思。
“希肯卢珀曾表示，如果现在让他重新选择，知道没有一位内阁官员站出来对抗特朗普的违法和腐败行为，他不会支持任何一位提名者，”声明中说道。
在即将接替任期届满的波利斯的民主党州长初选中，参议员迈克尔·贝内特的提名之路因总检察长菲尔·韦泽尔变得复杂。韦泽尔将贝内特确认特朗普提名者的投票与自己起诉特朗普政府的工作进行了对比。
他还将自己塑造成本次竞选的局外人，并认为贝内特应该继续留在现任职位上。
“迈克尔·贝内特在华盛顿有18年的从政经验，”韦泽尔在最近接受当地福克斯新闻附属频道采访时说道，“我们应该让他继续留在那里。”
Progressives look to Colorado as next test of a rising movement
2026-06-28T10:30:25.969Z / https://www.cnn.com/2026/06/28/politics/melat-kiros-democratic-socialist-colorado-diana-degette
Almost immediately after scoring a series of upset victories in New York last week, members of the rising progressive movement started looking ahead to their next target: Colorado’s 1st Congressional District.
Melat Kiros, a 29-year-old democratic socialist and lawyer, is challenging 15-term Rep. Diana DeGette for the solidly blue seat in Denver, where she and her allies hope voters are also ready for change.
“I think voters have realized that the party and leadership are failing to meet this moment in a meaningful way, and it’s time for leaders who are actually going to be fighting for the interests of working people,” Kiros told CNN.
But as an emboldened left flank looks to Tuesday’s primaries, seeking to build on momentum after all of New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s US House endorsements won their races, some warn that Denver isn’t New York City.
Ted Trimpa, a longtime Democratic strategist who helped build up Colorado’s Democratic infrastructure, warned his party against reading too much into last week’s results.
“Mamdani is not the messiah for Democrats,” Trimpa said. “And if Democrats think that he is, then they’re wandering around the wrong desert.”
Roughly half of the state’s voters are unaffiliated. And while Democrats hold both Senate seats and the governorship, the state has tended to elect more moderate candidates who have been willing to buck the party.
That willingness to at times demonstrate an independent streak, however, is increasingly coming under fire. Gov. Jared Polis was censured by the state Democratic Party last month for granting clemency to election denier Tina Peters. And the state’s two senators, one running for reelection and the other for governor, are facing blowback over their past votes for members of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet.
Within hours of Assemblymember Claire Valdez and Darializa Avila Chevalier’s projected wins in their New York primary races, fellow candidates backed by Justice Democrats took to their group chat to discuss how they could boost Kiros through fundraising, phone banking, or campaigning with her.
“Every race this cycle has added more and more momentum to the next,” said Usamah Andrabi, a spokesperson for the group, which backs progressive candidates who oppose corporate PACs. “What we’ve been really proud of as well is how much every candidate of ours who wins goes on and tries to pay it forward to the next.”
DeGette has faced primary challenges in the past, but Democratic strategists in the state say this is likely to be the incumbent’s toughest race in years.
This spring, both DeGette and Kiros sought to get on the ballot through the party-run caucus and assembly process, in which candidates need to win the support of 30% of party activists to get their name on the primary ballot. After DeGette only narrowly qualified, and was outperformed by Kiros, she ramped up her campaigning.
“I think this is probably the strongest challenge that she’s ever faced, but I also think she’s taking it as seriously as it needs to be,” said one longtime Colorado Democratic strategist granted anonymity to speak candidly. “I wouldn’t be shocked if either outcome happens.”
A third candidate in the race, University of Colorado Regent Wanda James, qualified for the ballot by collecting voter signatures.
The 1st District primary has covered familiar territory, as the candidates have squared off over who’s best suited to fight the Trump administration.
“I’ve won contested primaries before, and I’m confident about this one,” DeGette said in a statement to CNN. “I’m running hard and talking to voters every day about what matters to families here, not national narratives playing out in other states.”
The race has also centered on Kiros’ vocal criticism of US relations with Israel. The first-time candidate was fired from a law firm in 2023, after she refused to take down an open letter arguing that student protesters’ calls for the elimination of Israel should not be conflated with antisemitism.
But some of her comments on US-Israel policy have drawn scrutiny. She recently faced criticism for declining to describe as antisemitism a firebomb attack on protesters showing support for Israeli hostages held by Hamas. One person was killed and another dozen were injured in an attack, which investigators say the perpetrator planned for a year, telling the police he was driven by a desire “to kill all Zionist people.”
“I don’t know what was in the heart of the perpetrator,” Kiros said in an interview with 9News. “All I know is that he went and attacked innocent people because of what they might have believed.”
Kiros, who received a late endorsement from Sen. Bernie Sanders earlier this month, has criticized DeGette for accepting donations from corporate PACs. The incumbent has defended her progressive bona fides, pointing to her work as an impeachment manager as evidence of her record fighting Trump.
“Now is not the time to gamble and send somebody with no experience to Washington,” DeGette, who has spent nearly three decades representing Colorado’s most liberal district, argued at a candidate forum earlier this month.
In the final days of the election, a flood of money has poured into the race to boost DeGette, including more than $1.5 million from Pro-Choice Majority Action.
The groups have aired positive ads calling DeGette “the strongest voice fighting Trump” and an advocate for Medicare for All and defunding Immigration and Customs Enforcement. They’ve also attacked Kiros. One ad from Mile High Accountability Project, a super PAC that was registered on April 29, called Kiros a recent Denver resident and accused her of wanting to divide Democrats. The ad says her supporters want to defund the police, abolish the Senate and withdraw from NATO.
“Donald Trump loves Democrats like Kiros,” the ad says. “Enough attacks on Democrats. Enough division.”
Kiros, whose family immigrated to Denver from Ethiopia when she was a baby, called the criticism that she just moved to the state “disrespectful,” and said other attacks were misrepresenting her record.
“It’s reading as obviously desperate to a lot of our voters,” she said. “It’s reading as Republican-esque, frankly, as well, and isn’t actually speaking to the things that Denverites really care about, which is how you’re going to make the city affordable for them.”
Kiros’ campaign comes alongside several other candidates testing voters’ appetites for change in Colorado this week.
“I think everybody’s nervous,” said Alvina Vasquez, a Colorado-based Democratic strategist. “I don’t think anybody feels super confident.”
In the US Senate race, progressive state Sen. Julie Gonzales is challenging incumbent Sen. John Hickenlooper, a longtime fixture of Colorado politics who governed the state before heading to Washington.
“John Hickenlooper has been in office for over 20 years,” she said in a campaign ad. “I know that we’re not fooled by his so-called common-sense approach, because there is no sense in voting for Donald Trump’s nominees.”
Hickenlooper voted for several Trump Cabinet nominees, including Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, and Energy Secretary Chris Wright. But a spokesperson for the senator noted in a statement that he opposed several other nominees, including former Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
“Hickenlooper has said that knowing what he knows now — that not a single one of the cabinet officials stood up to Trump’s lawlessness and corruption — he wouldn’t support any of them,” the statement said.
In the Democratic gubernatorial primary to succeed Polis, who is term-limited, Sen. Michael Bennet’s path to the nomination has been complicated by Attorney General Phil Weiser. Weiser has contrasted the senator’s votes to confirm Trump’s nominees with his own work suing the Trump administration.
He’s also framed himself as the outsider in the race, and argued Bennet should stick to his current role.
“Michael Bennet’s got 18 years of experience in Washington,” Weiser said in a recent interview with a local Fox News affiliate. “We need to keep him there.”