If Melat Kiros’s Victory Surprised You, You Weren’t Paying Attention

This piece is part of Yellow Scene Magazine’s Opinion section. The views expressed here are those of the author in their role as Associate Editor, and do not represent a reported news position. At Yellow Scene, opinion pieces speak freely, challenge assumptions, and say the quiet parts out loud.

Today is America’s 250th birthday, and the country is changing right under our feet. Just a few weeks ago, a stunned Democratic establishment struggled to grapple with sweeping primary wins in New York City by candidates backed by Mayor Zohran Mamdani. All three are democratic socialists, pro-Palestine candidates pushing populist economic ideas. Among them is Darializa Avila Chevalier, the newly minted nominee for New York’s 13th district. Her victory in the general election would make her perhaps the most left-leaning person ever elected to Congress.

In the wake of these political reckonings, many establishment figures tried to dismiss the results as a specific New York City anomaly. They argue that New York politics do not represent what the broader public wants. While there is truth to the statement that the metropolitan core is not a perfect reflection of all America, there is also a deep condescension hidden in that rhetoric. It assumes that those of us who live outside of the major coastal hubs cannot also want change. It implies we do not want to see politics done differently.

They are wrong. Last Tuesday, Melat Kiros defeated 15-term incumbent Diana DeGette in the Democratic primary right here in Colorado. Kiros is a former attorney who was fired after writing and refusing to take down a letter defending students protesting for Palestine. Now a democratic socialist candidate, she boasts a campaign platform promising to abolish ICE, end military aid to Israel, institute universal child and eldercare, and fully fund a transition to a zero-emissions energy grid.

Many of these positions are the exact types of things we have been told are impossible or not worth pursuing. Yet, they are what won her the race. As we face oppressive heatwaves and a punishing affordability crisis, it should not surprise us that voters chose a candidate who says they will fight for workers and make a substantive dent in the climate crisis.

In our editorial room at Yellow Scene Magazine, as we debated endorsements, I must admit there was initial skepticism toward Kiros and her ambitions. But I advocated for her to get our endorsement because I am sick and tired of settling for politicians who tell us what we cannot do. The rhetoric around Democratic primaries from the establishment has become toxic. Too much of it is centered on giving up before we even try. They offer no real vision beyond not being Donald Trump, or simply offering more of the same. Yellow Scene Magazine endorsed Kiros because we prefer candidates who would rather try and fail to fight for change than do nothing at all.

Kiros represents a type of leadership unlike anything we have seen before in Colorado. If you were surprised by her victory, it is only because you were not paying attention. Coloradans hunger for change too. As an associate editor, I see this reality day after day. I see it through the interns I mentor. The young people who write for us talk constantly about the protests they have attended and how they took up journalism because they see a media and political landscape that fails to reflect them. I see it in residents holding their city councils accountable, and in neighbors who are exhausted by an America that increasingly does not work for them.

Voters want more. Polling from Pew Research reveals that US adults view both the Democratic and Republican parties unfavorably. This is a stark data point. It means that what people are looking for is not a simple swing from red to blue, especially not in a strong blue state like Colorado. People want real change. They do not want old, well-connected politicians who are out of touch and have no fight left in them, nor do they want technocrats who simply tinker at the edges of broken systems.

Yellow Scene Magazine remains committed to covering this shift from our home in Boulder County and the north metro. Denver politics is not Boulder County politics, in the exact same way New York City politics is not all of America’s politics. Boulder tends to be a quieter district where centrists win more often and dramatic shake-ups happen less frequently. But it would be a mistake to count out Boulder County. The heavy presence at local No Kings rallies continues, and our cities are full of residents who are profoundly dissatisfied with local affordability and unrepresented by politicians who get nothing done.

Melat Kiros’s victory opens the door for all of us to see that a completely different type of politics is possible, even here.

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