Colorado primary election results: Melat Kiros wins – key takeaways

Anti-establishment progressives saw off some seasoned office-holders in Democratic primary contests in the US state of Colorado on Tuesday, as the party ⁠struggles with an internal battle over how far to the left it can shift without ruining its prospects for taking control of US Congress in November mid-term elections. The big surprise of the night was the defeat in Colorado’s first district of incumbent member of the House of Representatives Progressive Caucus Dianna DeGette by a 29-year-old labour rights activist and lawyer, Melat Kiros . Recommended Stories list of 3 items end of list More broadly, the primary ballots are widely seen as an indicator of which key issues are motivating US voters. Here are some key takeaways from Colorado’s Tuesday ballots: Anti-establishment candidates make gains Similar to what happened in New York’s primaries , voters delivered a blow to moderate Democrats, while leftist candidates made gains. Kiros, who moved to the US from Ethiopia as a ⁠baby, beat DeGette in the Denver area despite being outgunned more than 2-1 in terms of funding and having called for a full arms embargo on Israel for even defensive weapons. DeGette is in favour of sending defensive weapons. Kiros was fired from her job after refusing to delete a social media post that criticised law firms for their stance on Israel and Palestine and has called Israel’s actions in Gaza a genocide. …