DeGette, Kiros and James face off in the District 1 congressional forum

The sharpest moments at the Congressional District 1 candidate forum on June 19 at the Denver Press Club, did not come when the three Democrats explained their own platforms. They came when U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette and Democratic Socialist Melat Kiros turned their answers toward each other.

“Unfortunately, some people on this podium have sponsored platforms that say we should withdraw from NATO,” DeGette said during Friday’s Congressional District 1 candidate forum. “That is a bad mistake.”

DeGette did not name Kiros, but the target was clear. In the final stretch of Denver’s Democratic primary, outside spending and attack ads have helped turn what might have been a sleepy incumbent race into a sharper fight over experience, foreign policy, campaign money and whether the district is ready for new representation.

Kiros, one of two Democrats running against DeGette, repeatedly tried to redirect the conversation back to the incumbent’s record and campaign funding.

“We are running a campaign against a 30-year incumbent, and we are out-raising her in individual dollars with over 5,000 individual volunteers and over 8,800 individual donors,” Kiros said.

At another point, she made the contrast more direct.

“I’m the only candidate in this race who’s refusing corporate PAC money and calling for publicly financed elections,” Kiros said. “We have to call out the Democrats who are in bed with special interests and are not going to actually do anything to advance the things that voters in this district voted for.”

DeGette, Kiros and CU Regent Wanda James, who are running in the district which includes most of Denver. agreed they would support the Democratic nominee after the June 30 primary but sharply differed over what kind of Democrat the district should send to Washington.

DeGette, who has represented the Denver-based district since 1997, leaned on her experience in Congress and argued that Democrats need a representative who can fight President Donald Trump’s administration from Washington.

“I fought Donald Trump as an impeachment manager in his first term,” DeGette said. “I fought against his illegal war in Iran. I fought to abolish ICE. I fought to give everybody in this country the same abortion coverage we have here in Colorado. I fought for single-payer health care. Now is not the time to gamble and send somebody with no experience to Washington.”

James opened by noting that the forum was held on Juneteenth and said the scheduling reflected a broader problem.

“Today is Juneteenth,” James said. “This is a day when the Black community gathers to honor freedom, survival, history and the unfinished fight for this country. Yet this forum was scheduled today because the congresswoman insisted that this was the only day that she had available. So as a Black woman in this race, I had to change my plans.”

“This is the kind of tone deafness that tells people whose traditions are treated as optional,” James added. “This is one of the reasons I’m running for office.”

James also pointed to her military service and her role as a CU regent as part of the experience she would bring to Congress. 

“This is an important seat,” James said. “We can’t just talk about what we’re going to do. We can’t just come up with grand ideas. I have worked in Washington. I have worked across this country. I have worked internationally to create policy and create laws.”

Kiros introduced herself through both her legal and educational background and her work as a barista at a Five Points cafe, presenting herself as the candidate most connected to working-class voters. She argued that opposing Trump is not enough if Democrats are unwilling to confront money in politics.

“The thing about fighting Trump is that it’s just one piece of the problem,” Kiros said. “Trump is not the cause; he’s a symptom of a system that is broken and has been broken for a really long time because our party has failed to understand the role that they need to take in getting money out of our politics.”

One of the night’s clearest divides was not just between the candidates’ policy positions, but between their theories of power. DeGette argued that her years in Congress make her better prepared to defend Denver’s interests. Kiros argued that long tenure is part of the problem. James argued that the district needs leadership rooted in service, community and maturity.

“We’ve been seeing so many ugly things that have been happening, and the one thing that I am proud of is being the grown-up in the room,” James said. “I’m not yelling about who is more anti-Semitic or who is too old to be in office.” 

Her comment referenced attacks that have shaped the race, including criticism of DeGette’s nearly three decades in office and accusations aimed at Kiros over her statements on Israel and Gaza.

Asked whether the United States should continue supporting Ukraine, DeGette criticized proposals she said would weaken the country’s role in NATO. Kiros disputed the characterization, saying the claim came from an anonymously run rumor.

“If anyone has seen the ads that an anonymous Super PAC has been flooding out airways with, then you’ll know that that subliminal comment is directed at me, so let me make myself abundantly clear,” Kiros said. “I have never, and will never, call for nor endorse a platform that says we should pull out of NATO.”

The exchanges did not go unnoticed by attendees. Donna Vreeland, who attended the forum, said she plans to vote for DeGette because of the congresswoman’s focus on federal politics and opposition to Trump.

“I’m voting for Diana,” Vreeland said. “I am just going down the line, and I am just doing blue everywhere because I am done with Trump.”

Another attendee, Eric Gross, said he was struck by DeGette’s emphasis on Kiros.

“Diana DeGette (was) really exclusively trying to pin down Melat with attacks,” Gross said. “I think it just paints the picture that she is worried about this primary.”

Gross said he supports Kiros because he sees her as a candidate willing to defend her principles.

“She has stood on her principles,” Gross said. “She lost her job because of her principles. She took that and looked out and said, ‘Well, maybe there’s this moment that I can capitalize on, because people are looking for someone who just does what they say.” 

Gross said DeGette’s long tenure may be an asset to some voters, but he believes younger voters are looking for something different.

“She’s been in office 30 years and keeps using that as a positive, but young people do not view that as a positive,” Gross said. “We need someone who can do different, do better. I’m not looking for damage control; I’m looking for someone who can do damage … I want someone who’s going in to fight.”

The June 30 primary will decide which Democrat advances in a district that includes most of Denver and is considered safely Democratic. For DeGette, the race is a test of whether experience still carries the day. For Kiros and James, it is a chance to see if Denver Democrats are ready for something new.