❓What happened last night: DSA-backed Kiros beats DeGette, Weiser beats sitting senator Bennet for governor
A look at the June 30 primary results in Colorado
Forget “Rocky Mountain High.” More like, “Rocky Mountain Red.” That was the big story of the night in Colorado, which held its regular primary elections on June 30.
In the Democratic primary for the deep-blue, Denver-based 1st District, democratic socialist Melat Kiros ousted liberal Rep. Diana DeGette. With 94% of the expected vote reporting, Kiros led DeGette by nearly 10 percentage points, 51.3%-41.7%. (All results in this piece are as of 9:30 a.m. Eastern.)
Kiros’s success builds on victories by other candidates who are considered democratic socialists — often endorsed by a chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America — or politicians who sit just adjacent to that label. We are officially in “this is a trend” territory, at least in some dark-blue areas in and around major American cities. This was most evident in New York City on June 23, when three Democrats endorsed by democratic socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani won highly-contested Democratic primaries for the U.S. House of Representatives. But DSA-endorsed candidates also won open-seat primaries for the U.S. House in Philadelphia (state Rep. Chris Rabb) and mayor in Washington, D.C. (City Councilmember Janeese Lewis George).
DeGette is the seventh House incumbent to lose renomination so far in 2026. All told, five Democrats and two Republicans have fallen in primaries or runoffs. On the Democratic side, DeGette is the third to lose to a challenger who obviously sat to the incumbent’s left. The other two races, both in Texas and precipitated largely by that state’s congressional redistricting, did not have clear ideological distinctions.
Another incumbent Democrat in D.C. lost a Colorado primary, albeit not for the office he presently holds. In the Democratic primary for governor, Sen. Michael Bennet lost to state Attorney General Phil Weiser. With 94% of the expected vote reporting, Weiser led about 56%-44%.
Bennet is one of four sitting U.S. senators who decided to run for governor in 2026. That is a record high in the era of popular elections for U.S. Senate (dating back to 1913). Historically, governors have been far more likely to run for Senate than the other way around. But this election went in the opposite direction, a signal of how much serving in Congress can be unpleasant and unfulfilling in this day and age.
The other three senators appear likely to have more gubernatorial success than Bennet. In Alabama, Sen. Tommy Tuberville has already won the GOP nomination and is favored to win in November. In August, Democratic Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota and Republican Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee are both favored to win their primaries, which would then set them up as likely general election favorites. By contrast, Bennet is the first sitting senator to lose a primary for governor since Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison lost her primary challenge against Gov. Rick Perry in 2010.
In blue-leaning Colorado, Weiser will be favored in the general election against whomever the GOP nominates. However, as of 9:30 a.m. Eastern, the result of the Republican primary remained up in the air. With 89% of the expected vote reporting, state Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer held an extremely slim 0.3-point lead over ministry leader Victor Marx, 39.9%-39.6%.
Decision Desk HQ estimates that there are a bit less than 60,000 votes left to be tallied in the GOP race. That may bode well for Marx: He has been gaining on Kirkmeyer with every nearly update because he’s been doing better among votes cast close to or on Election Day, whereas Kirkmeyer did better among the votes submitted earlier (Colorado is an all-mail voting state).
Over in the race for U.S. Senate, Democratic Sen. John Hickenlooper had a better night than his D.C.-based colleagues Bennet and DeGette, at least when it came to winning. Hickenlooper defeated state Sen. Julie Gonzales to win renomination, although he attracted substantial opposition. With 94% of the expected vote reporting, Hickenlooper only led by about 10 points, 55%-45%. Based on incomplete results, the incumbent carried every county in the state save the City and County of Denver, where he once served as mayor.
Hickenlooper’s mediocre performance would likely have been a bigger story if not for the DeGette and Bennet defeats. The incumbent seems to check the box for “likable enough” among Colorado Democrats. After all, Hickenlooper remains reasonably popular among likely primary voters — 62% favorable vs. 32% unfavorable in a late May poll from Colorado Community Research. Yet he underperformed those numbers in his primary. In fact, Hickenlooper has won under 60% in both of his Senate primaries, with 59% in his first win in 2020 and now 55%. Hickenlooper will be a heavy favorite to win in the fall against Republican Mark Baisley, who was unopposed in his party’s primary.
So far, none of the races we’ve examined are likely to have competitive general elections. But that changes with the 8th District, where Democrats picked state Rep. Manny Rutinel to face freshman Republican Rep. Gabe Evans. With 94% of the expected vote reporting in the Democratic primary, Rutinel led former state Rep. Shannon Bird 62%-34%, a sweeping victory.
Rutinel was the more progressive of the leading Democratic contenders, while Bird had a more moderate reputation. But unlike most left-wing Democrats who have won primaries in recent weeks, Rutinel has to win a swingy seat in November — President Donald Trump carried the 8th about 50%-48% in 2024.
Two red-leaning congressional districts could be competitive in the fall, although both are more likely to remain in Republican hands than not. In the 3rd District, Rep. Jeff Hurd defeated former state Rep. Ron Hanks in the Republican primary. With 90% of the expected vote reporting, Hurd led about 67%-33% over Hanks, whom Hurd also beat 41%-28% in the 2024 primary for the same seat.
Hurd cruised to victory despite losing Trump’s endorsement — at least for a time. The president had endorsed Hurd’s reelection bid, but in February he un-endorsed the congressman and backed a primary challenger after Hurd broke with most of the GOP to vote for a resolution to repeal Trump’s tariffs on Canada. But a month later, Trump re-endorsed Hurd after meeting with the primary challenger and asking her to leave the race and join his administration (she did, which left Hanks as Hurd’s only opponent). Hurd will face former Aspen City Councilmember Dwayne Romero, who won the Democratic primary over businessman Alex Kelloff 55%-44%, based on more than 95% of the expected vote reporting.
And in the Colorado Springs-based 5th District, Democrats chose Jessica Killin as their nominee to face Republican Rep. Jeff Crank, who was unopposed in his primary. The former chief of staff to one-time Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff, Killin led military veteran and 2024 candidate Joe Reagan 63%-37%, based on 87% of the expected vote reporting.
