Colorado Democrats bet on "big tent" after progressive surge
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Melat Kiros, center, joins Colorado Democratic leaders at a post-primary rally in Denver on Thursday. Photo: Alayna Alvarez/Axios
Colorado Democrats are presenting a unified front after Tuesday's primary elevated progressives across the ballot, betting their coalition — from moderates to democratic socialists — is an asset, not a liability.
Why it matters: Democrats' embrace of their far-left wing gives Republicans a direct line of attack heading into November as they recast the party as more extreme.
Driving the news: At a post-primary rally Thursday, top Democratic leaders downplayed philosophical differences and emphasized shared priorities like defeating President Trump, affordability and expanding opportunity for younger Coloradans.
- They framed this year's diverse slate of candidates — in age, faith, background and ideology — as a political strength.
Reality check: Democratic leaders aren't papering over their ideological divides.
- They're arguing those debates were settled in the primary — and a "big tent" is key to winning this fall.
What they're saying: State Democratic Party chair Shad Murib bets the party comes out on top by expanding its reach. "Whether you are a Blue Dog Democrat … a democratic socialist, or … somewhere in between, we win through addition," he said.
- Melat Kiros, the 29-year-old democratic socialist who unseated 15-term incumbent Diana DeGette in Denver's 1st Congressional District, said the party's differences are about tactics, not goals.
- "We all made different proposals for what the solutions are to the same problems that we're fighting," Kiros told Axios Denver. "We have too much corruption in our government, and working families are struggling to just get by. ... Democrats are going to be leading on the solutions."
The other side: While Democrats say ideological diversity is proof the party's healthy, Republicans see an opening to sway voters.
- "The socialists have taken over the Democrat party," U.S. Rep. Gabe Evans, who faces progressive challenger Manny Rutinel this fall in Colorado's 8th Congressional District, said in an interview this week.
- "We truly have a situation now where the tail is wagging the dog of the Democrat party, and that tail is the out-and-out avowed socialists," he said.
The bottom line: Colorado Democrats hope their "big tent" is big enough to win. Republicans hope to poke holes in it before November.