WASHINGTON (July 1, 2026) — Today, Will Marshall, President of the Progressive Policy Institute (PPI), issued the following statement on Tuesday’s Colorado primary elections:
“Melat Kiros’s win over Diana DeGette in Colorado’s First District will be celebrated by the party’s left flank as proof that the socialist insurgency is unstoppable. It’s proof of something more narrow: that voters are in an anti-incumbent mood. The outcome also says more about generational than ideological change, since DeGette is the most progressive member of the Colorado delegation.
“The election result sits oddly with the state that produced it. In 2025, PPI chose Colorado to launch our latest renewal effort because Democrats there have built a two-decade winning streak built on a strategy of radically pragmatic policymaking.
“Kiros’s primary campaign ran against nearly every plank of that playbook. In a D+29 district, this race tested little about swing voters. The same night, John Hickenlooper defeated a socialist primary challenger by 14 points, a result that required winning votes across an entire state rather than a single safe district.
“Today, a record 58% of Americans think Democrats are too liberal, and the working-class voters the party needs lean moderate to conservative on immigration, crime, and cultural issues. If national Democrats treat Kiros as the model instead of the past two-plus-decades of pragmatic politics in Colorado that actually beat Trumpism, they will win more Denvers and fewer majorities.”
Founded in 1989, PPI is a catalyst for policy innovation and political reform based in Washington, D.C. Its mission is to create radically pragmatic ideas for moving America beyond ideological and partisan deadlock. Find an expert and learn more about PPI by visiting progressivepolicy.org. Follow us at @PPI.
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Media Contact: Ian O’Keefe – iokeefe@ppionline.org
