Melat Kiros, a 29-year-old democratic socialist attorney, pulled off one of the biggest upsets in recent Colorado politics when she defeated 15-term Rep. Diana DeGette in the June Democratic primary for the state's 1st Congressional District. But in the months since, her positions on Israel and her refusal to call last year's Boulder firebombing an antisemitic attack have turned her once-celebratory primary win into a bitter general-election fight over Zionism itself.
Kiros ran on a platform built around workers' rights, the cost of living, health care, housing and Israel, according to Denverite. Her top priorities, she has said, include passing Medicare for All, establishing universal child care, ending military aid to Israel and abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, according to the Denver Post. She grew up in Denver's Lowry neighborhood after being born in Ethiopia's Tigray region, and as a young activist she joined marches protesting violence there, per Denverite's reporting.
A Law Firm Firing That Became a Campaign Flashpoint
Kiros attended the University of Notre Dame Law School and went on to work at Sidley Austin in New York. One month after Hamas-led militants killed around 1,200 people in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, Kiros posted a response on Medium to a letter from U.S. law firms, Denverite reports. Sidley Austin was among more than 200 law firms that had signed a letter condemning law students protesting Israel, and when the firm asked Kiros to take down her post, she refused — a decision that, according to the Forward, led to her firing within 24 hours. She moved back to Denver and enrolled in a public policy doctorate program before launching her campaign.
Kiros told the Forward there was no justification for the Oct. 7 attacks, but she argued that calling for the elimination of the Israeli state was not inherently antisemitic. That distinction has shadowed her campaign ever since, resurfacing most pointedly after the 2025 attack in Boulder.
The Boulder Attack and a Refusal to Use One Word
In June 2025, Mohamed Sabry Soliman attacked a Run for Their Lives event in Boulder with Molotov cocktails, injuring more than a dozen people, per Denverite. Among the victims was 82-year-old Karen Diamond, who died a few weeks later. On Oct. 29, Soliman pleaded guilty — the Justice Department says he admitted to 12 federal hate-crimes charges for using Molotov cocktails against members of Run for Their Lives and others, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Despite that legal determination, Kiros declined in a 9News interview to call the Boulder firebombing antisemitic, telling interviewers she did not know the attacker's intentions and describing the incident as a political attack against Zionism that was not necessarily antisemitic, Denverite reported. She has since said she wished she had conveyed more empathy for the Jewish community in the attack's aftermath. Kiros has also said she has been meeting with Jewish leaders, including liberal Zionists, telling Denverite the conversations have extended the spectrum of positions on Israel she has engaged with.
Jewish Leaders React, Some With Open Letters
The response from parts of Denver's Jewish community has been sharp. Brandon Rattiner, a senior director with the Jewish Community Relations Council, said the more overheated rhetoric becomes around Israel, the less safe Jews are, per Denverite. The council wrote an open letter criticizing Kiros for what it called a lack of nuance after she appeared on a livestream hosted by left-wing streamer Hasan Piker.
Rae Jones, who is associated with Denver Queer Havurah and Jewish Voice for Peace, said every human life is precious and that it is important to act when atrocities are happening, per the same Denverite report.
Kiros Says Israel Is Committing Genocide, Pushes One-State Solution
Kiros has said Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians, and she supports a one-state solution in which Palestinians and Israelis would share a government. She has pointed to Gaza, where health authorities say Israel's military campaign has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians, including more than 20,000 children, according to Denverite. In September, Kiros traveled more than 1,600 miles to New York City to join hundreds of protesters outside United Nations headquarters for an anti-Zionist demonstration. She said this is about humanity and about protecting basic decency, making sure tax dollars are not complicit in this atrocity.
Kiros won the June primary against DeGette. She had come close to keeping DeGette off the primary ballot entirely, and at the Denver County Democratic assembly in March, Kiros won 646 votes, or 63% of those present, compared with DeGette's 336 votes, or 32%, according to the Denver Post. DeGette had outfundraised Kiros three to one overall, even as Kiros picked up endorsements from Bernie Sanders, Justice Democrats, the Sunrise Movement and the Democratic Socialists of America, the Forward reported.
An Independent Challenger Enters, Citing Kiros' Rhetoric
Kiros now faces independent candidate Shimon Blau in Tuesday's general election. Blau gathered the 1,500 signatures needed to make the ballot as an independent, and he has said his entry into the race after Kiros' June nomination was motivated by what he called her antisemitic rhetoric and extreme views on Israel, according to the Colorado Newsline voter guide. Some Denver Democrats have rallied behind Blau specifically over Kiros' comments on the Israel-Hamas war and her refusal to call the Boulder attack antisemitic, the Denver Post reported.
Campaign finance filings show both candidates entered the final stretch with limited resources. As of mid-October, Kiros had raised about $208,000 since the primary with nearly $76,000 on hand, while Blau had raised roughly $179,000 and loaned his campaign another $25,000, leaving him with nearly $60,000 remaining, per the Denver Post. Most of the nearly $1.3 million Kiros raised overall was spent during her primary fight against DeGette.
Kiros has said she plans to keep engaging in debate with prospective constituents as the race heads toward Tuesday's vote.
