(AFP) – The anti-establishment left of the Democratic Party has carried a surge of US primary victories from New York to Colorado, delivering a stinging rebuke to party leaders seen as too cautious, too corporate, and too tied to Washington. In its latest triumph, Democratic Socialist Melat Kiros, a 29-year-old former attorney and part-time barista, stunned one of the party’s longest-serving lawmakers Tuesday, defeating Diana DeGette in a Denver-based House district. The upset came a week after left-wing challengers backed by Democratic Socialist groups scored a string of victories in New York City, including against sitting members of Congress.
Together, the results suggest that what some Democrats had dismissed as a New York-specific revolt may be spreading, fueled by anger over corporate money, generational stagnation, and a party establishment many younger voters believe has failed to confront President Donald Trump. For Senator Bernie Sanders, the Vermont independent and elder statesman of the American left, the Colorado result showed a broader political movement against the establishment. “The tide is turning,” Sanders posted on X, congratulating Kiros for her “extraordinary victory” over a 30-year incumbent. “Americans are tired of status quo politics. They want representatives in Congress who will stand up to oligarchy and fight for working families.”
Trump is spinning the rise of the left ahead of November’s midterm elections, claiming that “communists” are on the rampage, posing the biggest “threat” to the nation in its history. “They use the words ‘Social Democrat’ because it sounds so nice, but it’s really communism you’re talking about,” Trump told reporters at the White House this week. Kiros’s victory was particularly striking because DeGette was not even running as a centrist Democrat. She is a member of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and had support from prominent leftist lawmakers. Kiros – a pro-Palestinian activist and Israel critic – still attacked her from the left, arguing that voters needed a younger representative with a more direct understanding of rent, low wages, and corporate influence in politics.
Her win was celebrated by the Democratic Socialists of America, Justice Democrats, and other groups seeking to push the party leftward on economic policy, foreign policy, and campaign finance. But Colorado’s primary night was not only about socialism. State Attorney General Phil Weiser – no Democratic Socialist – defeated Senator Michael Bennet in the primary for governor by casting himself as a warrior against Trump and his vastly more experienced opponent as a Washington insider. Kurt Bardella, a former Republican congressional aide turned Democratic strategist, warned against reading the results simply as a left-versus-center revolt. “It’s not about ‘socialism’ – it’s about establishment,” Bardella wrote on X. “It’s about ‘insider’ vs ‘outsider.’ It’s about ‘old’ vs ‘new.’ It’s generational.”
Conservative commentator Bill Kristol made a similar point from a different ideological perch, saying Democratic centrists could either “wring their hands” or recognize that the results reflected anger over a perceived failure to oppose Trump. That mood was also visible in Colorado’s competitive 8th District, where progressive state Representative Manny Rutinel defeated a more moderate rival for the Democratic nomination to face vulnerable Republican Representative Gabe Evans. Rutinel, a young Latino candidate and former Army Corps of Engineers economist, has argued that Democrats should focus relentlessly on the cost of living and the struggles of working families.
Republicans, meanwhile, are eager to make the left’s rise the centerpiece of their midterm message, accusing Democrats of being hijacked by socialists and tying Kiros and other left-wing nominees to vulnerable Democrats in more competitive districts. Democrats need to gain only a handful of seats to win back the House, making any fight over the party’s image especially sensitive. Its leaders have tried to avoid openly escalating the conflict, framing leftist gains as local phenomena. But the primaries have complicated that task.
“Democrat primary results across Colorado confirm that the socialist takeover of the Democrat Party isn’t confined to New York City or deep-blue enclaves,” said NRCC spokesman Mike Marinella. “It’s spreading into the very battlegrounds that will decide control of Congress.”
– Frankie TAGGART
© 2024 AFP
