Tuesday was another huge win for progressive Democrats in the state of Colorado. Headlining the evening was Melat Kiros, who took down incumbent Diana DeGette in the CO-01 Democratic primary. CO-01 covers most of Denver and is considered one of the most progressive constituencies in the nation.
Kiros, a Democratic Socialist, had surged in the markets following the triumph of other Democratic Socialists in the New York primaries last week. The trend continued into the west as Kiros defeated 30-year congressional veteran Diana DeGette.
The primary was Kiros' biggest hurdle ahead of the general election in November, where the markets give her a 94% chance to head to Washington.
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DeGette becomes the fifth sitting House Democrat to lose their primary race. Last week, Dan Goldman and Adriano Espaillat of New York joined Julie Johnson and Al Green of Texas.
Currently, the market forecasts 5.8 sitting House Democrats to lose their primary. While primary season will hit a lull in July, numerous incumbents such as Shri Thanedar of Michigan and Wesley Bell of Missouri will face serious primary challenges in August.
Statewide, Phil Weiser defeated current Senator Michael Bennet. A huge question in the race was why Bennet, most recently re-elected in 2022, wanted to leave Congress before his term ended. Bennet was the favorite for much of the race until June 25th when he was overtaken by Weiser.
Weiser centered his campaign around being the better candidate to fight against the Trump administration and attacking Bennet on his campaign finances. Like Kiros, the primary election was Weiser's biggest obstacle. The markets gave the Democratic party a 91% chance to win the gubernatorial election ahead of the primary. Weiser never surpassed a 91% chance of winning the primary until after the polls closed.
Progressive longshot Julie Gonzales failed to defeat John Hickenlooper in the Democratic Senate primary. Hickenlooper, once a Presidential candidate, was always the favorite.
The market never gave Gonzales higher than a 34% chance of winning the nomination. Hickenlooper now heads to the November election, where the markets currently give the Democratic party a 95% chance of retaining their Colorado Senate seat.
KPOW, Kalshi's index measuring the balance of political power between the Democratic and Republican parties, did not majorly move, as all three primaries were considered Democratic strongholds by the metric regardless of primary outcome.
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