Democratic Socialists score big wins in Colorado

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WBUR Podcasts, Boston.

**Indira Lakshmanan** (0:22)
We will not wait!

**Ashley Locke** (0:29)
Democrats are pivoting to the left in elections around the US.
It's Wednesday, July 1st, and this is Here and Now Anytime from NPR in WBUR, Boston. I'm Ashley Locke. Today on the show, it's really, really hot. Two and three Americans live in states that for the next few days are under a massive heat dome. And as baseball players get ready to celebrate America's favorite pastime on the 4th of July, we appreciate another, you could say, unofficial holiday today, Bobby Bonilla Day.

**Kenny Malone** (1:10)
It looks on its face like another classic New York Mets bungle.

**Ashley Locke** (1:15)
But first, Colorado is the latest state where an anti-incumbent wave is taking out Democrats. A 15-term Congresswoman has been defeated, and a sitting US. Senator has lost his gubernatorial primary.
Kyle Clark covers politics for Nine News in Denver. He chats about the results with Scott Tong.

**Scott Tong** (1:36)
Let's talk about democratic socialist, Melat Kiros, 29-year-old lawyer. She won the Democratic primary, taking out long-time incumbent, Diana DeGette. Tell us about Kiros.

**Kyle Clark** (1:48)
Kiros is a former attorney who lost her job at a corporate law firm for writing an essay that was highly critical of Israel. She came home, enrolled in a PhD program, started working as a barista, got linked up with the local chapter of Democratic Socialists of America and decided she's going to run for Congress.

**Scott Tong** (2:06)
And what did she kind of talk a lot about in her campaign? I mean, did she mention this letter, you know, where she questioned the government of Israel's actions and its legitimacy? She did.

**Kyle Clark** (2:17)
She did. She made Diana DeGette's support for Israel a key focus of the campaign. Kiros said that Israel's actions in Gaza amount to genocide. She called for an arms embargo that even included defensive weapons to protect Israeli civilians.
And she went farther than that. Specifically, I asked her whether the firebombing of elderly Jews in Boulder, Colorado, recently was an act of anti-Semitism or anti-Zionism. And there was a large community reaction when she told me that she wasn't sure which it was, that she didn't know what was in the heart of the attacker.

**Scott Tong** (2:54)
Well, Kiros is the latest member of the Democratic Socialist Party to win in this country. Two other party members in New York State won congressional primaries last month, and they were supported of course by the Democratic Socialist Mayor of New York City, Zoran Mamdani. Is there a sense of momentum for the party, at least in Colorado?

**Kyle Clark** (3:13)
I think so. And I think for folks around the country who are getting their first look and listen at Melat Kiros, they're going to see that like Zoran Mamdani, she is a tremendous communicator. I wouldn't say that she picks her battles in the same way that New York City's mayor does. She is a bit more doctrinaire and more dogmatic and is willing to engage on any plank of the Democratic Socialist ideology.
But she is a tremendously fluent communicator. And she does so in a way that does not often seem adversarial or contentious, right? She just, she engages with an openness and with an invitation to say, I think a lot of people share my view. Let me explain it to you.

**Scott Tong** (4:03)
Right, Kyle, let's talk about another congressional primary in Colorado in in a rare swing district in America. 31 year old progressive Democrat, Manny Rutinell, won his primary and he's going to face incumbent Republican Congressman Gabe Evans in the general. How is that shaping up for November?

**Kyle Clark** (4:21)
Well, it's likely to be more competitive than it would have been if Democrats had selected a centrist named Shannon Bird. Instead, they have picked Manny Rutinell, who as you mentioned is a progressive. He will not say that he is and he's abandoning a number of his progressive principles over the years, including his commitment to veganism. He used to be a vegan activist, but now he talks about how much he loves the meat products produced by the farmers and ranchers of Colorado's 8th congressional district. He's also flip-flopped on fracking and on universal healthcare. One of the mysteries for voters out here is, which positions will Manny Ruthnell still hold when we get to the general election against Republican Gabe Evans?

**Scott Tong** (5:03)
Wow. Well, they say attack to the center in the general.