Colorado Democrats are bracing for a primary night that could reshape the state's congressional delegation. The results, expected to arrive in fits and starts due to mail-in voting patterns, will test whether the party's left wing can break through against establishment-backed incumbents across a U.S. Senate seat, another Senate race, and a House district that has been held by the same Democrat for more than a quarter century.
Rep. Diana DeGette appears to be in the most precarious position. The Denver-based congresswoman, who has held her 1st District seat since 1997, is facing challenger Melot Kiros. Kiros has aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America and centered her campaign on criticism of Israel. The district's demographics, packed with young, college-educated progressives, match the profile of urban areas where similar insurgent candidates have already toppled Democratic incumbents this year, most recently in New York City.
Two Senate races add to the establishment's headaches. Sen. Michael Bennet's ambition to move to the governor's mansion faces a test from state Attorney General Phil Weiser, who has tapped into what appears to be genuine leftward momentum within the party. Sen. John Hickenlooper's situation is murkier. The first-term senator is being challenged by Julie Gonzales, a Denver state senator with long-standing ties to the DSA who is running explicitly on a left-wing platform.
The Gonzales race will likely be decided in the Denver area and Boulder, which together represent roughly 30% of the statewide Democratic primary vote. These are precisely the communities where younger, progressive voters who back candidates like Kiros hold considerable sway. A single poll from a progressive firm released last month showed Hickenlooper ahead by just single digits, but without corroborating surveys, interpreting that result remains a guessing game.
Colorado's voting history offers both encouragement and caution for progressive challengers. In 2020, Bernie Sanders dominated the presidential primary, while Sanders and Elizabeth Warren combined for over 55% of the vote. Yet just months later, Hickenlooper defeated a well-known progressive opponent in the Senate primary 59-41%, winning all but one county. Whether that general-election performance translates to primary success remains to be seen.
The timing and pace of results will add another layer of unpredictability. Colorado conducts elections almost entirely by mail, and counties typically release initial vote dumps quickly after polls close. In 2024, roughly half the votes appeared within the first hour and 75% by midnight. The count then slowed dramatically as officials methodically processed remaining ballots.
A complicating factor is the voting behavior of younger, progressive voters who have shown a pattern across multiple states this year of submitting ballots at the last minute. Many of those votes won't be counted until late evening or in the days following election day. If any of tonight's races are competitive, Coloradans could be waiting significantly longer for final results.
Author Sarah Mitchell: "The real test isn't whether progressives can win individual races, but whether they've built enough durable power to dent Colorado's moderate Democratic establishment when it counts."
Comments