U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, a Denver Democrat and the senior member of Colorado’s congressional delegation, has gotten used to facing primary challengers in the last decade, though she’s fended them off almost as easily as she’s sailed to reelection every two years in the state’s deepest blue district.

Amid widespread dissatisfaction with the Democratic Party and its longtime leaders, however, pioneering cannabis entrepreneur and University of Colorado Regent Wanda James believes she can buck that trend next summer, when she hopes to prevent DeGette from advancing to a 16th term in office in the 1st Congressional District primary.

James, a 61-year-old Navy veteran and with her husband the first Black owner of a cannabis dispensary in the country, launched her campaign on Sept. 17 — her birthday — declaring that “in a time of turmoil and great uncertainty in America,” she was taking “one of the largest steps of my life.”

She joins four other Democrats already running to unseat DeGette in the primary, including 28-year-old Melat Kiros, the daughter of Ethiopian immigrants and a former corporate attorney. So far, the only Republican who has filed to run in the district did so by mistake, she told Colorado Politics.

James framed her candidacy as a bid to refresh the Democratic brand, which she describes as “diminished,” citing recent polling that shows the party’s voters are disappointed with its political standard-bearers.

“Now is the time,” James said in a statement. “The people of Colorado’s 1st Congressional District are demanding bold, unapologetic, fearless leadership. After decades in office, there’s no excuse for not doing more for our district and our country.”

DeGette, a 68-year-old civil rights attorney and former state lawmaker, was first elected to represent the seat in 1996, the year fellow Democrat Pat Schroeder retired after 12 terms in office. With a single exception in 2002, she managed to evade primary challenges for the next 20 years, but since 2016 has first had to get past a Democratic rival more often than not before winning reelection by landslide margins.

The district, with a border nearly coinciding with Denver’s municipal boundaries, is ranked as one of the most reliably Democratic U.S. House seats in the country, with a 29-point advantage for the party’s nominees, according to the Cook Political Report.

That’s more than three times the baseline 9-point margin enjoyed by Republicans in the state’s reddest seat, the 4th Congressional District, which covers Douglas County and Colorado’s Eastern Plains. That district is represented by U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, who moved across the state last year from a closer district before winning her third term in Congress.

By comparison, the seat that until recently held the GOP-leaning crown, El Paso County’s 5th Congressional District — represented by first-term U.S. Rep. Jeff Crank, it’s the only district in the state that has never elected a Democrat — has a slimmer, 5-point advantage for Republicans.

To get a sense of just how overwhelmingly favorable Colorado’s 1st CD is for Democrats, only nine districts in the country currently have higher Democratic-leaning Partisan Voting Index scores under Cook’s system, including former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s San Francisco-based seat and the Manhattan district held by U.S. Rep. Jerry Nadler, who recently announced he isn’t seeking another term. 

Over the years, DeGette’s performance on Election Day has outpaced even the district’s sky-high Cook PVI, with the incumbent burying Republican opponent Valdamar Archuleta by 55 points last year and dispatching 2022 GOP nominee Jennifer Qualteri by a jaw-dropping 63 points.

While DeGette wasn’t faced with a primary in 2024, Democrats have run against her in each of the previous four cycles, though they all went down by double digits, if they made it to the ballot at all. Neal Walia lost the primary to DeGette by a 62-point margin in 2022, two years after former state House Speaker Crisanta Duran dropped her 2020 bid months after amassing a slew of high-profile endorsements. In 2018, attorney and children’s book publisher Saira Rao fell 36 points behind DeGette in the primary, doing better than the nearly 74-point walloping dealt to Charles “Chuck” Norris in 2016.

Despite the incumbent’s record of steamrolling all challengers, James is convinced she’s got a fighting chance, pointing to her own high profile in the district and her demonstrated political savvy. No stranger to the spotlight, she’s been profiled by the New York Times, USA Today and NBC News, as well as plenty of local coverage before and since winning election to represent the 1st CD on CU’s governing board in 2022.

She’s also got the kind of behind-the-scenes campaign chops most of DeGette’s previous challengers lacked, including managing Colorado Gov. Jared Polis’ winning 2008 congressional campaign and serving on national finance committees for presidential candidates Barack Obama and Kamala Harris, in 2008 and 2024, respectively.

“Real change will not come from the same politicians who built this broken system,” James said. “Denver deserves leadership that delivers results and puts working families first. I am running to fight for affordable housing, fair wages, and an economy where every family has a chance to build a secure life. Washington needs bold leadership with lived experience and the courage to challenge entrenched power.”

A spokeswoman for DeGette’s campaign told Colorado Politics that her boss intends to continue “delivering for Denverites.”

“As the top Democrat on the Health Subcommittee, she is fighting to stop the harmful cuts to Medicaid, defend reproductive freedom, lower the cost of medicine, and boost breakthrough lifesaving medical research,” said Jennie Peek-Dunstone. “No matter which party holds the majority, Congresswoman DeGette remains laser-focused on doing the job she was elected to do.”

Kiros, who launched her campaign in July, said she welcomes James’ entry in the race.

“Competitive primaries are a cornerstone of a healthy democracy,” she said in a text message. “I’m running because it’s time for a new generation of leaders in our party who understand the challenges the people of our district are facing with the rising costs of healthcare and housing and are prepared to bring bold, transformative solutions to the table.”

James has some heavyweights in her corner.

Former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb, who pointedly didn’t mention DeGette when he endorsed Colorado’s three other Democratic House members’ reelection bids earlier this summer, called James “the kind of problem solver Denver and the nation need” in a joint endorsement issued with his wife, former state Rep. Wilma Webb.

“We have watched her fight on every level, from electing strong Democrats, building businesses, to serving in higher education, always putting community first,” the Webbs said. “It is now time for a new generation of leadership.”