Editor’s Note: this article has been updated to reflect the total amount spent by outside groups on the race at $2.3 million.

Melat Kiros, a candidate backed by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), defeated Rep. Diana DeGette in the Democratic primary for Colorado’s First Congressional District Tuesday evening

DeGette, a 30-year incumbent, received 41 percent of the vote to Kiros’s 51 percent, despite $2.3 million in campaign spending from outside groups in the final month of the race.

The Kiros campaign framed itself as an explicit challenge to the Democratic establishment. Her victory comes not long after two DSA-backed candidates emerged victorious over two incumbent New York Democratic congressmen. 

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Kiros received endorsements from the prominent progressive Reps. Pramila Jayapal (D-WA) and Jamie Raskin (D-MD), as well as Justice Democrats, a progressive group that counts Kiros as its seventh primary victory of 2026. 

Kiros will go on to face the Republican candidate, Christy Peterson, in the general election on November 3.