Voters in Colorado’s 1st Congressional District will face an unusually competitive choice on this year’s Democratic primary ballot, where Rep. Diana DeGette, who has represented the area for nearly three decades, is being challenged by two candidates who successfully qualified for the ballot.

Her opponents — Melat Kiros and Wanda James — are part of a wave of progressive Democrats pushing for generational change, a dynamic similar to the primary challenge in Colorado’s U.S. Senate race, where state Sen. Julie Gonzales is taking on U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper.

As ballots hit mailboxes, the competition between DeGette and her challengers, especially Kiros, is heating up.

On Facebook this week, DeGette called out Kiros directly for “lying.” “My opponent has lied about me since she launched her campaign. I can’t believe I have to say this, but it’s an absolute lie that I or my campaign had anything to do with her venue cancellations,” DeGette said.

Last week, Kiros and her allies accused DeGette of forcing venues to cancel planned events and rallies featuring Kiros.

The heavily Democratic, Denver-based congressional district hasn’t sent a Republican to Washington since the early 1970s. The 67-year-old DeGette, a civil rights attorney and former state lawmaker, was first elected to Congress in 1996. In the last decade, she’s fended off multiple primary challenges by wide margins and gone on to win reelection by even wider margins — last year, she defeated Republican nominee Valdamar Archuleta, 77% to 22%.

DeGette has faced criticism for skipping several election forums, debates, and media interviews. She recently declined a one‑on‑one interview with 9News, an invitation accepted by both Kiros and James.

DeGette has agreed to participate in a forum hosted by the Denver Press Club and Colorado Politics on Friday, June 19. A video recording of the in‑person event will be made available afterward.

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Denver Democrat Diana DeGette draws primary challenge, call for ‘new generation’ from Melat Kiros

Diana Degette

Diana Degette website

U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette is a fourth‑generation Coloradan and longtime representative of Colorado’s 1st Congressional District, known for her work on health care, scientific research, climate policy and civil rights.

A leading advocate for abortion rights, DeGette co‑chairs the Congressional Reproductive Freedom Caucus. She helped pass the Women’s Health Protection Act in the House and co‑authored the EACH Act to expand abortion coverage for low‑income Americans. She has also worked to broaden access to birth control and reverse restrictions on contraceptive coverage.

DeGette is a prominent voice on climate and environmental issues. She authored legislation signed by former President Joe Biden to reduce methane emissions from drilling sites, sponsored the Colorado Wilderness Act, which aims to protect more than 660,000 acres of public land, and pushed for stronger drinking‑water and chemical‑safety standards.

Her background as a Denver civil‑rights attorney informs her work on behalf of women, immigrants, and marginalized communities, according to her campaign. She convened the first House oversight hearing on family separations at the border and has been recognized by the ACLU of Colorado and NEWSED for her civil‑rights advocacy.

DeGette is also known for bipartisan deal‑making, earning national awards for her work across party lines to advance legislation.

While facing criticism of being outdated, DeGette’s campaign told Colorado Politics last year that the longtime congresswoman continues to do the job she was elected to do.

“Whether it’s fighting for reproductive justice as co-chair of the Reproductive Freedom Caucus, pushing back against the dangerous misinformation spread by Robert Kennedy Jr. and Donald Trump, or standing up for Denver’s families in the face of sweeping federal cuts to health care and research, DeGette has proven time and again that she’s in this to be effective for the constituents of Denver,” said Jennie Peek-Dunstone, a DeGette campaign aide.

“She will continue to focus on doing her job and holding the Trump administration accountable,” she added.

Milat Kiros

Milat Kiros website

Melat Kiros was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and came to Denver after her father won the U.S. Diversity Visa Lottery. Watching her parents juggle multiple jobs while building a new life taught her the value of community and perseverance, her campaign said.

Driven by those lessons, her campaign added, Melat earned degrees in Political Science and Economics from Washington College and a law degree from the University of Notre Dame. Her campaign said that, as an attorney in New York City, she backed student protesters advocating for Palestine and refused to retract her defense of their free speech, a decision that cost her her job.

Now pursuing a doctorate in public policy at the University of Denver while working as a barista, Melat is running as a Democratic Socialist to fight for working people, make Denver more affordable, and root out government corruption, according to her campaign.

In announcing her campaign last year to take on Colorado’s longest-sitting member of Congress, Kiros said in a video that, while she is a proud Democrat, “these days I don’t have a lot to be proud of. We hear politicians say over and over that we need bold leadership, progress and change. We’ve heard this for years — decades — but they never deliver. We need leaders who won’t just talk about fighting for us.”

While acknowledging DeGette’s decades of work, Kiros told Colorado Politics last year that it’s just “time for a new generation of leadership.”

On Degette, Kiros said, “I think she’s done some really incredible work and meaningful work, and I’m so grateful for her service, but we are just not living in a time where the methods of the past are going to work with this administration.”

Wanda James

Wanda James website

DeGette faces yet another candidate in Wanda James, who qualified for the ballot, giving the district’s primary voters three options.

Wanda James argues that Washington needs leaders who will fight for working families and address rising costs that make it difficult for many Americans to afford housing, child care, and other essentials. She says meaningful change requires new leadership willing to challenge entrenched power.

James was raised in Colorado by a single father, an Air Force Vietnam veteran, and a mother whose childhood in wartime Britain shaped her understanding of hardship and resilience, according to her campaign. She is a first‑generation graduate of the University of Colorado Boulder and the first Black woman commissioned through its Naval ROTC program. Her service as a Navy officer continues to guide her approach to leadership, her campaign said.

Alongside her husband, Scott Durrah, James built Simply Pure, which she has touted as the nation’s first Black‑owned cannabis dispensary. The couple also opened several restaurants in Colorado, creating jobs and mentoring young workers, her campaign said. James says these experiences taught her what it takes to run a business, meet payroll, and overcome barriers that often limit opportunities for communities of color.

Her campaign also said that she became the first Black woman elected as a University of Colorado Regent in more than four decades and she has worked to expand access to higher education, support fair wages, and reform the university’s billion‑dollar procurement system to increase opportunities for local, women‑owned, and minority‑owned businesses.

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.”

Voter information

• June 12 – Deadline for initial mail ballots to be sent to active voters for the 2026 Primary Election.
• June 22 – Deadline to register to vote and still be mailed a ballot. After this date, residents must register and then vote in person.
• June 22 – The minimum number of required voter centers must be open.
• June 22 – Last suggested day to return ballots by mail.
• June 23 – The minimum number of required drop boxes must be open. From this date on, voters should return their ballots to a voter center or drop box, or vote in person.
• June 30 – Election Day. Voters must submit their ballot or be in line to vote by 7 p.m. for their ballot to be counted.
• June 30 – Ballots cast by military and overseas voters must be sent no later than 7 p.m. on Election Day.
• July 8 – Deadline for ballots cast by military and overseas voters to be received by their county clerk.
• July 8 – Deadline for voters to cure a signature discrepancy or missing signature, if notified by the county clerk.