New York socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is celebrating after another socialist ally won a key Democratic U.S. House primary on Tuesday night.

Melat Kiros, a 29-year-old socialist, defeated 30-year incumbent Rep. Diana DeGette in a Democratic primary for a deep-blue House seat anchored in Denver, Colorado.

It was a major victory for the socialist left Tuesday evening.

“Denver voters of all ages, of all races, of all religions sent a clear message: we will not wait… We won tonight, but this is about something so much bigger than this moment… This is a movement. And we are just getting started,” she said after the race was called.

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During the campaign, Kiros referenced AOC positively as a role model.

“AOC and Summer Lee, I think those two have really done an incredible job of highlighting the cause for a lot of the failure to deliver for working people in the country,” Kiros said.

The DSA had been hoping DeGette’s loss would be evidence of its building momentum after a slate of socialist candidates won Democratic primaries in New York City last week.

“Today, the East Coast, next week the Mountain West,” the DSA wrote in a social media post last week.

If elected in November, Kiros, who was born in Ethiopia, is likely to join the far-left group known as the Squad and become one of a handful of vocal socialists in the House chamber.

Kiros’ insurgent primary bid was also bolstered by controversial socialist streamer Hasan Piker, who said Hamas is “a thousand times better” than Israel and praised the Chinese Communist Party.

In 2023, Kiros, a PhD student and lawyer, was fired from a New York firm after publishing an open letter in which he asserted that pro-Palestinian student protesters calling for the elimination of Israel were not antisemitic and appeared to endorse Hamas.

Kiros has also suggested the United States deserved 9/11.

“Inevitable in the sense that we destabilized a lot of the Middle East that forced people to believe that another act of violence was the only response,” Kiros told 9News when asked if she thought the terror attack was “the inevitable consequence of American foreign policy.”

“And again, just like I said before, our responsibility is to get rid of those conditions that lead to violence in the first place,” Kiros continued.

WATCH:

Socialist candidate Melat Kiros, who was born in Ethiopia, just defeated 15-term incumbent Diana DeGette in the Democratic primary in Colorado.

Here is a clip of her saying that 9/11 was America’s fault. pic.twitter.com/1h5K80mm80

— Martin Walsh (@martinwalsh__) July 1, 2026

She also referred to the Oct. 7, 2023 attacks against the Jewish state as the “inevitable consequence of apartheid” and wouldn’t categorize the firebombing of protesters in Boulder last year who were demanding the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza as antisemitic.

“I don’t know what was in the heart of the perpetrator,” Kiros told Colorado’s 9News in a recent television interview. “All I know is that he went and attacked innocent people because of what they might have believed.”

A June 2025 bipartisan resolution condemning the attack as part of a “rise in ideologically motivated attacks on Jewish individuals” won every present lawmaker’s support, except for Reps. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., and Thomas Massie, R-Ky., who voted present.

Separately, Ocasio-Cortez did not rule out a 2028 presidential run when asked about it earlier this month.

“Could I be president?” Ocasio-Cortez told Fox News. “Could I not be president? Maybe, maybe not.”

She suggested that accomplishing universal healthcare would be a greater measure of success than obtaining any specific title, including the presidency.

She consistently redirected the conversation from her political future to the outcomes of policies. She argued that the true value of holding office lies in what can be achieved through it.

This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.