Voters in Colorado’s Democratic primary on Tuesday night mostly let their elected officials know that they’re fed up with the party’s Washington politicians and ready to back the most aggressive fighters they can find.

At the same time, the voters who cast ballots in the Republican primary mostly embraced the GOP’s establishment, throwing the beleaguered party a potential lifeline in a state that hasn’t rewarded the party’s candidates with statewide wins in the last decade.

It was a mixed bag for the two camps, as early frontrunners fell or struggled to keep it close in one of the most wide-open primaries the state has seen in years, with some standout exceptions keeping the night from delivering a simple message.

Democratic socialist stuns delegation’s dean

Overshadowing it all, both on the ground and nationally — where the results landed like a thunderclap — Denver’s Democratic voters in the 1st Congressional District decided to send Colorado’s first Democratic socialist to Washington, while rejecting the longest-serving member of Congress in state history.

Running on an aggressively progressive platform that focused on affordability, universal health care and opposition to America’s support for Israel, Melat Kiros, the 29-year-old doctoral student and former corporate lawyer making her first run for office, toppled U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, who was first elected to represent the state’s most heavily Democratic House seat the year before Kiros was born.

It marked only the second time in more than 50 years that one of Colorado’s incumbent members of Congress lost a bid for reelection in a primary, putting Kiros alongside Republican firebrand Lauren Boebert, who ousted a five-term lawmaker from the Western Slope in 2020.

Another D.C. denizen loses

Along with DeGette, the state’s senior U.S. senator, three-termer Michael Bennet, also got the cold shoulder from Democratic voters, who tapped Attorney General Phil Weiser as the party’s nominee for governor.

Weiser pitched himself as a lawsuit machine, boasting that he’s taken the fight to the Trump administration in court more than 60 times since the president’s second term began. He contrasted that with what he characterized as Bennet’s more senatorial approach, which included voting to confirm some Trump nominees and blocking some legislation.

When the ballots were counted, state Democratic voters picked the fighter who’s stayed closer to home while dealing a loss to Bennet.

GOP cheers Kiros win

Republicans were quick to hold up Kiros as the new face of the Colorado Democrats and appeared to relish the chance to lash her to their opponents in less left leaning parts of the state.

Republican U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans, who represents the state’s swingiest district — north of the Denver metro area, it’s changed hands between the two parties in both elections since its creation in 2022 — didn’t hesitate to pair Kiros with the Democrat he’ll face in November, state Rep. Manny Rutinel.

“They’re two peas in a pod. They’re both socialists from New York,” Evans told Colorado Politics in an interview after Rutinel had been declared the winner of his primary in the 8th Congressional District. “All of the Democrat socialists in Colorado state legislature have endorsed my opponent and whose radical socialist, antisemitic values are out of touch with what Coloradans want and need.”

Establishment Republicans win

Although the results were still too close to call at 11 p.m. on primary night, state Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer, the epitome of an establishment Republican — she’s held office for nearly three decades — had maintained her early lead over outsider Victor Marx in the GOP gubernatorial primary, despite the charismatic missionary leader’s massive fundraising advantage and the frontrunner status he claimed.

The same dynamic played out in other Republican races across the state, with the more traditionally minded candidates edging out their more edgy opponents.

In the 3rd Congressional District, U.S. Rep. Jeff Hurd, a moderate who broke with Trump last year on tariffs, trounced former state Rep. Ron Hanks, who delighted in calling the incumbent a fake Republican. Likewise, the GOP’s primary for attorney general saw 4th Judicial District Attorney Michael Allen roll over lawyer David Willson, who made his mark representing Tina Peters the last time she ran for statewide office.

State GOP chair ponders ‘gift’

Newly elected state Republican Party Chairman Craig Steiner said late Tuesday that he saw glimmers of hope in the night’s results, including the GOP’s ability to point to Kiros in the campaign season ahead, as the party struggles to get past years of internal strife.

“Each of the leading candidates brings something to the table, so I think we’ll be well positioned,” Steiner told 9News anchor Kyle Clark, who suggested that Kiros’ primary win could be a gift to the opposition party.

“I think maybe electing a socialist, even in Denver, is a bridge too far for Colorado,” Steiner added. “So, you’re right, we definitely have to actually unwrap that gift, but I’m glad that we were given that gift.”