Socialist Melat Kiros defeats 15-term incumbent in primary for U.S. House seat from Colorado

Melat Kiros.

Another socialist candidate notched a victory in key primary race for a U.S. House seat in Colorado just a week after three socialist candidates did the same in New York as Melat Kiros toppled a 15-term incumbent, showing that the socialist wave is crashing in Middle America as well as on the coasts. 

Kiros ousted U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette who has held the House seat, which represents Denver and parts of the surrounding area, since 1997. She outpaced DeGette, clinching 51.3% to DeGette's 41.7% as of Wednesday morning, with about 8% of the vote remaining to be counted. 

Like New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Kiros was not born in the U.S. The 29-year-old was born in Ethiopia in 1997, the same year DeGette, 68, began representing Colorado's first Congressional District.

She graduated from Notre Dame Law School, is an avowed member of the Democratic Socialists of America and has espoused views similar to her contemporaries who have won recent House primary races, including vocally expressing support for Palestinians and going so far as to blame the U.S. for the al-Qaeda terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001. 

“We are winning from coast to coast,” Kiros told supporters after clinching the victory Tuesday night, according to The Associated Press. “We are taking back our party and our country!” But while Kiros says she and other socialists are "taking back the party," many worry that the Democrat party is actually being taken over by socialists, a trend that's borne out in recently polling that highlights the changing attitudes toward socialism and communism. 

“This is a movement,” Kiros said. “We are just getting started.” Below, watch a clip of Kiros answering a question about the September 11 attacks being "inevitable."