Melat Kiros

Melat Asfawosen Kiros (born 1997) is an American lawyer, graduate student, and politician. A member of the Democratic Party and the Democratic Socialists of America, she is the Democratic nominee for Colorado's 1st congressional district in 2026, having defeated 15-term incumbent Diana DeGette in the primary.

Kiros supports Medicare for All, abolishing ICE, federal rent control, and a moratorium on data centers.

Early life Kiros was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to a family of Tigrayan origin, and her parents immigrated to the United States when she was an infant. According to her campaign website, Kiros was born "weeks before" her father was picked in the United States' Diversity Visa Lottery.

Kiros grew up in Aurora, Colorado, and attended Eaglecrest High School. She graduated from Washington College with a bachelor's degree in political science and economics in 2018, and from Notre Dame Law School in 2022.

Early career Kiros joined the New York law office of Sidley Austin as a summer associate in 2021, becoming a full-time associate in September 2022. At the time of her firing she was a securities regulatory and enforcement associate. In 2023, she published a post on Medium criticizing law firms, including her own, for opposing pro-Palestine protests and highlighting the "chilling future lawyers' employment prospects for criticism of the Israeli government's actions and its legitimacy".

After leaving Sidley Austin, Kiros returned to Colorado, enrolled in a PhD program at the University of Colorado Denver School of Public Affairs, studying "the efficacy of reparations, universal basic income and regulatory reform in achieving social, economic, and environmental equity."

Political career 2026 congressional campaign

On July 9, 2025, Kiros announced her candidacy for the United States House of Representatives for Colorado's 1st congressional district, challenging incumbent Diana DeGette, who was first elected to Congress in 1996.

When asked about her motivation for challenging DeGette, who is widely considered to be on the progressive side of the Democratic Party, Kiros "signaled that the campaign would focus on the generational divide, as well as money in politics. Kiros has refused donations from corporate PACs and special interest groups in her campaign." She went on to criticize over $5 million in corporate PAC money that DeGette had received from the pharmaceutical lobby and the fossil fuels lobby.

During the primary, Kiros was endorsed by Justice Democrats, the Democratic Socialists of America, the Working Families Party, and US Senator Bernie Sanders. DeGette was endorsed by the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

The Colorado Sun reported that the Israeli–Palestinian conflict was the biggest policy difference between Kiros and DeGette. Kiros supports an embargo on all arms sales to Israel, and says that Israel should no longer be a Jewish state, calling it an ethnocracy.

Kiros won the primary on June 30 by over 20,000 votes. The district is so heavily Democratic that Kiros is overwhelmingly favored to win the general election. If elected, she will be the first Generation Z woman elected to Congress and the second Generation Z member of Congress, after Maxwell Frost. She supports increased childcare subsidies, capping childcare costs at 10% of family income, and making childcare free for families below a certain income level. She opposes continued U.S. military aid to Israel, calling Israel's actions in Gaza a genocide, and has called for a full U.S. arms embargo on Israel, including defensive weapons.

Kiros opposed U.S. military action against Iran, saying there was no security threat, and no indication that Iran was close to building nuclear weapons. She said she would support efforts to reclaim Congressional war powers from the president.