In Colorado’s primary race, Democratic incumbents are battling a variety of challenges, from progressive newcomers to state legislators seeking higher office.
Latino voters are undecided as both U.S. parties struggle to connect with them.
Polls show that Latinos are one of the most volatile demographics among American voters.
- Democratic socialist Melat Quiros is mounting a serious challenge to 15-term U.S. Representative Diana DeGette in a closely watched primary election.
- Colorado’s Democratic gubernatorial primary is a close race, with Sen. Michael Bennet facing a late surge from Attorney General Phil Weiser.
- Democratic incumbent Sen. John Hickenlooper is being challenged for the Senate seat by progressive Colorado Sen. Julie Gonzalez.
A wave of progressive candidates challenging mainstream Democrats could drown out Sens. Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper in Colorado’s June 30 primary.
Mr. Bennett is seeking the governorship of Colorado, and Mr. Hickenlooper is seeking re-election, but neither is guaranteed victory.
A week after left-wing Congressional candidates won three dramatic victories over incumbents and establishment candidates in New York state, Bennett is seeking to thwart Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, who has criticized him and is soaring in the polls. Hickenlooper, on the other hand, faces Colorado Sen. Julie Gonzalez, a progressive opponent from the left in the Democratic-dominated state.
And in the Denver-based 1st Congressional District, Melat Quiroz, a self-proclaimed democratic socialist, is trying to upset 15-term incumbent Democratic Rep. Diana DeGette, Colorado’s longest-serving lawmaker.
“The atmosphere everywhere is anti-incumbency, pro-populism/disruption, and you can see that here even though the state is definitely Democratic,” said Kyle Sanders, a longtime political science professor at Colorado State University.
Quiros, a democratic socialist, gives DeGette an unprecedented challenge to Congress
In the race that has garnered national attention, DeGette faces the toughest test in his nearly 30 years in Congress from a challenger who was not yet born when the 15-term incumbent first took office.
Mr. Quiros is a 29-year-old political newcomer who has been endorsed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont). Sanders, a Democratic Socialist who caucuses with the Democratic Party, described Quiros as “a truly bold leader” who “knows that our current political and economic system is broken and needs bold reform.”
DeGette, 68, served as impeachment manager in President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial in 2021. She is currently slated to become the top Democrat on the powerful House Energy and Commerce Committee.
DeGette, a former Colorado state legislator and civil rights attorney, was first elected in 1996 and has since won reelection by a wide margin. The heavily Democratic district has not sent a Republican to Congress since 1970.
Quiros, whose parents immigrated to Colorado from Ethiopia when she was young, began her campaign for Congress last year after losing her job as an associate at a New York securities law firm after posting an open letter in November 2023 defending critics of Israel’s military action in Gaza against accusations of anti-Semitism. Since returning to Colorado, she is working part-time as a barista while pursuing a doctorate in public affairs at the University of Colorado Denver.
While Israel has been a flashpoint in the race, DeGette’s biggest weakness ultimately lies in her long tenure, Erin Covey, House editor at the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, which forecasts U.S. elections, told USA TODAY.
“Generational factors are reinforcing the ideological conflict between the two,” Covey said.
Mr. DeGette narrowly won the primary vote in June and finished second to Mr. Quiros in the 1st District Democratic Congress in March. In Colorado, candidates must receive at least 30% of the vote at the primary convention to qualify for the ballot, but Mr. DeGette received just 33%, compared to 67% for Quiros.
“That Quiros was able to sneak up on her was a clear warning sign that there was real energy behind Quiros’ campaign, and DeGette was caught off guard by it,” Covey said.
Opinion polls are predicting a close race overall, with a June 19 poll by the news site Zeteo showing DeGette leading Quiros 41% to 36%.
“A safe seating arrangement means you always keep your head down, don’t embarrass anyone, and the seat is yours until you decide to leave,” Sanders said. “Mr. Quiros has said this is a bad deal, and many Democratic voters agree that Mr. DeGette is sweating it out in late June.”
Quiros hopes to gain similar momentum to the winning candidates in Congress backed by New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani, including Brad Lander, Daliaza Avila Chevalier and Claire Valdez, who supported abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and labeled Israel’s actions in Gaza a genocide.
Sanders’ endorsement could be significant for Quiros, who is distancing himself from University of Colorado regent and business owner Wanda James, who is also running for DeGette’s ticket and has promised similar reforms.
“It’s a Colorado version of the energy that drove the New York primary, but with a Colorado twist. Mr. Quiros and Mr. James are both chasing ‘transformation votes,’ which could split the vote and give DeGette multiple wins,” Sanders said.
Colorado leans Democratic, but the former battleground state has an independent leaning. About half of the state’s voters are not affiliated with either political party and are allowed to vote in the primary, which could make voting difficult for more extreme candidates.
“Colorado’s semi-open primary accommodates independent voters, which could undermine the very mobilization of the closed primary that fueled the upset in New York,” Sanders said.
Can Bennett survive a late surge?
In the race for Colorado’s Democratic gubernatorial nomination, three-term Sen. Michael Bennet is trying to defeat Attorney General Phil Weiser, who has raised more money than he has and is rising in the polls in the race to replace term-limited Gov. Jared Polis.
Since 2008, Democrats have won every Rocky Mountain gubernatorial election.
A poll conducted by Keating Research in February showed Bennett once leading by 27 points, but it is now a close race. One Colorado Community Research poll in May had Mr. Weiser leading Mr. Bennett by 7 points, and another poll conducted in June by Public Policy Polling had Mr. Bennett leading by 6 points.
With nearly a fifth of voters still undecided, people knocking on doors asking for votes in the final hours could decide the outcome.
Sanders said the race is a “legitimate gamble,” but Bennett is still a “safer bet” because he has a higher profile, deeper networks and far more money in his orbit.
“But this race is tight enough that you have to sweat it out,” Sanders said.
Election analyst Matthew Klein wrote in Cook Political Report on June 23 that the gubernatorial race is characterized not by any particular policy but by “increasingly aggressive attacks” on which candidates have “the chutzpa” (a Yiddish word for boldness) to fight back against Trump.
“Bennett bills himself as a champion of change, but his long tenure in an unproductive Congress could be a handicap for Democratic voters who are increasingly dissatisfied with the status quo,” Klein said.
Mr. Bennett is known as a centrist Democrat. He was part of the bipartisan group known as the Group of Eight, which drafted a sweeping immigration reform bill in 2013, and was the lead proponent of expanding the child tax credit. He ran unsuccessfully for president in 2020, focusing on restoring government health and economic liquidity.
As of early June, Mr. Weiser had raised more money in direct campaign contributions ($6.4 million) than Mr. Bennett ($4.6 million), according to the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office, but Mr. Saunders said both candidates were at a record fundraising pace thanks to outside interest.
Rocky Mountain Way, a super PAC allied with Bennett, has amassed about $10.3 million, several times more than the pro-Weiser PAC. Much of that comes from billionaire and former New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg. He is a centrist billionaire who was first elected as a Republican and then as an independent Democrat.
Will Hickenlooper be able to keep his Senate seat?
Hickenlooper, a former Colorado governor and mayor of Denver who is seeking re-election to the Senate after one term, is being challenged in the Democratic primary by progressive Colorado Sen. Julie Gonzalez, 43, who argues that more young voices are needed.
Sanders said the 74-year-old Hickenlooper, who has a significant fundraising advantage, remains likely to win.
Mr. Hickenlooper, a former oil geologist and brewpub owner, described himself as an “extreme moderate” and as governor was known for his passionate support of hydraulic fracturing, also known as fracking, a controversial method of extracting natural gas and oil.
Gonzalez said Hickenlooper failed to offer a “bold and fierce criticism” of the Trump administration. According to a poll released June 8 by polling firm Colorado Community Research, Mr. Hickenlooper leads Mr. Gonzalez 41% to 34% in the primary.
“What[Gonzalez]is doing is exposing the gap between where the Democratic base is now and where this 74-year-old institutionalist sits,” Sanders said. “Her pitch is generational change and a more confrontational stance against Trump, and the fact that she has any support at all against an incumbent in Hickenlooper’s position speaks to the restlessness of the Democratic base.”
Mr. Hickenlooper declined to discuss Mr. Gonzalez, describing Mr. Sanders as “the movements of someone who is protecting a lead, not someone who is nervous.”
