DSAs third major primary win deepens Democrats fight over the partys future

The (DSA) are taking their political playbook nationwide. 

One week after DSA-aligned candidates scored ballot-box victories over establishment-backed contenders in two congressional primaries in New York City that grabbed outsized national attention, the group scored another major upset in a deep-blue U.S. House district in .

Democratic Rep. Diana DeGette, who was first elected to Congress in 1996 and took office in 1997, was defeated by DSA-backed Melat Kiros, a first-time candidate and former attorney who is 29 years old.

Kiros victory comes a week after Darializa Avila Chevalier, a 32-year-old progressive community organizer in New York City, ousted incumbent Democratic Rep. Adriano Espaillat, chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and state Assembly Member Claire Valdez, another DSA-aligned contender, won a congressional primary to succeed retiring Rep. Nydia Velázquez.

The victories by Chevalier and Valdez, who were backed by socialist New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, coupled with the win this week by Kiros, are further emboldening the progressive left as it takes on the center-left establishment in a high-stakes battle for the future of the . 

Hasan Piker, the controversial, far-left streamer, at the Kiros primary night event in Denver, told Fox News, “I think progressive politics, left populism, a politics that centers the needs of the working class, can work in every district, in every state. That’s why I kept saying over and over again, it’s coming to a city near you.” 

The latest DSA primary victory came in Colorado’s 1st Congressional District, a Democrat-dominated seat anchored in Denver that then-Vice President Kamala Harris carried by nearly 56 points in the 2024 election.

“Another Democratic Socialist is going to Congress!,” the DSA touted in a social media post. “Congresswoman Kiros will take the fight for a better world to D.C: to Abolish ICE, free Palestine, and win Universal Childcare and Medicare for All.” 

Kiros, who lost her job as a lawyer in New York after writing an essay critical of Israel, was also supported by Justice Democrats, the nearly decade-old political group known for heavily supporting “Squad” members Reps. Alexandria , Ilhan Omar, Ayanna Pressley and Rashida Tlaib as they toppled entrenched incumbents in their initial elections to Congress. 

University of Colorado regent Wanda James, who jumped into the Democratic congressional primary in April and was described as a spoiler, finished third, in single digits. 

Progressives also scored an impressive victory in the neighboring 8th Congressional District, a crucial swing seat which stretches along the I-25 corridor . 

State Rep. Manny Rutinel tallied a convincing double-digit victory over former state Rep. Shannon Bird, a more moderate candidate. Rutinel will now take on Republican Rep. Gabe Evans, who flipped the seat in the 2024 cycle. 

The race is considered one of two or three dozen that will determine if the GOP holds onto its razor-thin House majority in the midterms. 

Immigration was a top issue in the Democratic primary in a district where roughly 40% of the population is Latino. Rutinel criticized Bird for a vote she cast last year opposing a measure limiting cooperation between local and state law enforcement and ICE. And Rutinel was boosted by big spending from allies, including prominent Latino groups. 

While Rutinel has tempered his previous support for top progressive issues, including Medicare for All and opposition to fracking, Republicans viewed him as the easier general election challenger than Bird. During the primary campaign, the right spotlighted pictures of him rallying alongside Mamdani.

“Democrats have chosen a far-left, radical socialist, Mamdani-wanna-be extremist — someone who supports eliminating oil and gas, defunding law enforcement, calling farmers and ranchers horrific, and threatening the industries that power our