by WorldTribune Staff, July 2, 2026 Non-AI Real World News

New York City may be the current capital of American socialism, but the movement is not contained to Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s Big Apple.

The latest shocker by a candidate backed by the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) came in a Denver congressional primary on Tuesday, where 29-year-old Melat Kiros defeated 15-term Democrat incumbent Diana DeGette.

Kiros was not shy in criticizing Democrats who support Israel, a key cog in the new socialist movement, and also touted her alliance ⁠with socialist political commentator Hasan Piker, whose “brand of left-wing politics apparently holds that stealing things is fun and cool,” Reason magazine noted.

Kiros, who was fired from her job after refusing to remove a social media post that criticized law firms for their stance on Israel and Palestine and has called Israel’s actions in Gaza genocide, is expected to win November’s general election in Colorado’s heavily blue 1st Congressional District.

In her victory speech (see below), Kiros said “we will not wait to abolish ICE and pass Medicare for all.”

Kiros has already said that she will not vote for House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries for speaker if Democrats win back the majority. “If the day comes to vote, and he continues taking corporate PAC money, I won’t be voting for him,” Kiros said in an interview ahead of her primary victory.

The victory by Kiros follows three wins by DSA-backed candidates in New York’s Democrat primary.

“New York City, we think, is really reflecting where the whole country is going at this point, so we’re very excited, and we want to keep building from it,” Ashik Siddique, co-chair of the DSA, told The Hill. “Increasingly, we’re showing that candidates running on strong platforms like these can win in red or purple states, in the Midwest and the South.”

Writing for Just the News on July 1, Steven Richards noted: “Should Democrats reclaim the House in November, even a small cluster of democratic socialists could wield leverage far out of proportion to its population on the Hill.”

Five DSA members or endorsees have already won primaries in safe-blue seats with more contests still to come.

“In exchange for the socialist organization’s endorsement, the candidates are expected to uphold its political platform, which includes Medicare for all, defunding the police, increasing taxes on the rich, and reducing border enforcement,” Richards noted.

Just the News previously reported that the DSA, a separate entity from the Democrat Party, has adopted a strategy known as the “dirty break,” or running candidates on the Democrat Party ballot line “while building the infrastructure and base of supporters necessary to one day run our candidates independently.”

250 Years of Freedom Is At Risk

  Socialists expand appeal: 15-term incumbent knocked off in Colorado Democrat primary, WorldTribune.com