Published July 1, 2026
The Democratic Socialists of America had another good night in Colorado on Tuesday as DSA member Melat Kiros easily unseated 15-term incumbent Rep. Diana DeGette in a deep-blue, Denver-based district. That shocker (though it might be time to retire that word for these results) comes hard on the heels of last week’s congressional primary victories by three progressives, including two democratic socialists.
What’s an establishment Democrat to do? The DSA’s remarkable gains this primary season have triggered a fierce response from more moderate Democrats. Many want to fight to keep control of the party, pushing socialists to the sidelines, if not off the playing field altogether.
Well, good luck with that.
Just ask a never-Trump Republican: America’s open political system simply makes it impossible for any group, even powerful, entrenched elites, to prevent a major party from being taken over by motivated newcomers with the numbers on their side. So long as the country retains its primary election system for designating who bears a party’s label in general elections, the parties can’t successfully police their ranks.
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Henry Olsen, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, is a globally recognized expert on American elections and policy as well as global populism.
