Tag Archives: Rep. Diana DeGette

Colorado Rep. Diana DeGette Barely Survives Ballot Challenge

By Jim Ellis — Tuesday, March 31 2026

US House

Colorado Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Denver)

Current US House member Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Denver) of Colorado barely survived a ballot challenge at the Democratic Assembly caucuses over the weekend.

Under Colorado election procedure, a candidate may qualify for the ballot in two ways. First, receive at least 30 percent support from the party assembly delegates; second, submit 1,500 valid registered voter petition signatures. Candidates can both participate in the assembly and file petitions.

At the 1st Congressional District Assembly this past Saturday, Rep. DeGette received only 33 percent of the delegate vote opposite attorney Melat Kiros.

According to The Down Ballot political blog, 235 delegates were present and voting, meaning just 78 of the participating individuals voted for the 15-term incumbent. The result indicates that she earned ballot placement by just eight votes. Rep. DeGette did not file petitions as a safeguard against performing poorly at the assembly; therefore, she risked renomination defeat had she fallen below the 30 percent threshold.

A third 1st District Democratic congressional candidate, University of Colorado Regent Wanda James, did not participate in the assembly but filed signature petitions.

Therefore, it appears Rep. DeGette has a serious primary challenge in the June 30 Colorado plurality primary election. According to the 2025 year-end Federal Election Commission financial disclosure statement, the Congresswoman held just over $535,000 in her campaign account. Kiros raised over $230,000 and James slightly under $180,000.

Though the delegate vote was overwhelming for Kiros, the assembly result is not necessarily representative of the 1st District Democratic primary vote base. It does show, however, that Kiros is a serious candidate and has significant grassroots support among the most active regular party primary voters.

Rep. DeGette is certainly not the only veteran Democratic incumbent facing a competitive primary challenge. Three, for example, face former US House members. Opposing Reps. April McClain Delaney (D-MD), Wesley Bell (D-MO), and Julie Johnson (TX-33) are former members who previously held the respective seat.

At this point, in addition to Rep. DeGette, 16 other Democratic congressional incumbents must run a serious campaign for renomination. Fewer Republicans face primary challenges, though Texas US Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Humble) has already been defeated in the March 3 GOP primary.

Below is a list of the other significant Democratic challenge campaigns that are worth watching as primary season progresses. The principal challengers are also identified (source: Politics1 website):

  • CA-4: Rep. Mike Thompson vs. venture capitalist Eric Jones (California jungle primary is June 2)
  • CA-7: Rep. Doris Matsui vs. Sacramento City Councilwoman Mai Vang and two other Democrats (jungle primary)
  • CA-17: Rep. Ro Khanna vs. financial tech executive Ethan Agarwal and cybersecurity engineer Mike Katz (jungle primary)
  • CA-32: Rep. Brad Sherman vs. ex-Biden White House aide Jake Levine, son of former Congressman Mel Levine, and five other Democrats (jungle primary)
  • CT-1: Rep. John Larson vs. former Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin; state Rep. Jillian Gilchrest, and two other Democrats (Connecticut plurality primary is Aug. 11)
  • FL-20: Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick vs. Luke Campbell, entertainer and former Miami Mayor candidate, ex-Broward County Commissioner Dale Holness, ex-Sunrise City Commissioner Mark Douglas, community organizer Elijah Manley, and physician Rudy Moise. Rep. Cherfilus-McCormick is under federal indictment, and the House Ethics Committee last week found her guilty of 25 ethics violations. (Florida plurality primary is Aug. 18)
  • GA-13: Rep. David Scott vs. state Sen. Emanuel Jones, state Rep. Jasmine Clark, ex-Gwinnett County School Board Chair Everton Blair, and three others. (Georgia primary is May 19; runoff June 16 if no one receives majority support)
  • HI-1: Rep. Ed Case vs. state Sen. Jarrett Keohokalole, former state House Majority Leader Della Belatti, and two others. (Hawaii plurality primary is Aug. 8)
  • IN-7: Rep. Andre Carson vs. consultant George Hornedo, and two others (Indiana plurality primary is May 5)
  • MD-6: Rep. April McClain Delaney vs. ex-Rep. David Trone, and six other Democrats (Maryland plurality primary is June 23)
  • MI-13: Rep. Shri Thanedar vs. state Rep. Donovan McKinney and three others (Michigan plurality primary is Aug. 4)
  • MN-5: Rep. Ilhan Omar vs. MN AFSCME Vice-President & DNC Member Latonya Reeves and attorney Julie Le (Minnesota plurality primary is Aug. 11)
  • MO-1: Rep. Wesley Bell vs. former Rep. Cori Bush and four other Democrats (Missouri plurality primary is Aug. 4)
  • NY-15: Rep. Ritchie Torres vs. ex-state Assemblyman Michael Blake and three others (New York plurality primary is June 23)
  • TN-9: Rep. Steve Cohen vs. state Rep. Justin Pearson, pastor DeVante Hill, and businessman LaTroy Alexandria-Williams (Tennessee plurality primary is Aug. 6)
  • TX-33: Rep. Julie Johnson vs. ex-Rep. Colin Allred in runoff election from March 3 primary (Texas runoff election day is May 26)

Colorado Maps Completed


Colorado Independent Redistricting Commissions’ Final Approved Congressional Plan

By Jim Ellis

Oct. 1, 2021 — The members of the Colorado Independent Redistricting Commissions completed their task of sending congressional and state legislative maps to the state Supreme Court at the assigned deadline, with all but one person supporting the final US House product.

The adopted map was based upon the third staff-produced map, with an amendment from Democratic commission member Martha Coleman (2nd CD) in a re-draw that affected Rep. Ed Perlmutter’s (D-Arvada) 7th District and the new 8th CD.

The staff offering became the commission’s working map. The initiative that created the redistricting panels awarded an inordinate amount of power to the professional staff in the event of a commission deadlock, meaning that a two-thirds majority is not achieved. In such a situation, the staff map would then be directly sent to the state Supreme Court at the assigned deadline. The high court has until Dec. 15 to approve the maps now officially in their possession.

The congressional map now features eight seats, since Colorado was awarded a new district in reapportionment. All of the considered maps placed the new seat in a similar location, with the final product featuring a new 8th CD lying north to northeast of Denver, and encompassing the municipal population centers of Thurston, Westminster, and Greeley.

All seven current incumbents receive districts they can win. Reps. Diana DeGette (D-Denver) and Joe Neguse (D-Boulder) have the strongest Democratic seats, while Reps. Ken Buck (R-Windsor) and Doug Lamborn (R-Colorado Springs) have the safest Republican districts. Rep. Jason Crow (D-Aurora) sees his 6th District substantially improve, while Reps. Lauren Boebert (R-Silt) and Perlmutter have districts that clearly favor their party, but which could yield a degree of competitiveness.

Rep. Boebert’s 3rd CD, or the Western Slope district, remains largely intact with the exception of moving further east along Colorado’s southern border. A great deal of the public input at the various hearings expressed the desire to unite many of the Hispanic and Native American communities in that region.

The changes don’t drastically change the political nature of her district, however. In Donald Trump’s two elections, the former president carried the 3rd by 12 and 6 points, respectively, in 2016 and 2020. The aggregate score on the new CO-3 is R+9. Therefore, the partisan complexion is largely unchanged, despite the addition of some different geography.

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Colorado & Hickenlooper —
Decisions, Decisions

By Jim Ellis

Feb. 27, 2019 — Saying he’s “not cut out to be a senator,” former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper (D) said that he will either run for president in 2020 or no office at all. He further stated that, “Senators don’t build teams. Senators sit and debate in small groups … But I’m not sure that’s my — I’m a doer. That’s what gives me joy.”

Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper – not running for Senate (Photo Moritz Hager)

While Hickenlooper is definitive that he won’t enter the Democratic senatorial primary to challenge first-term GOP incumbent Sen. Cory Gardner, he also has made lesser-than-expected moves toward entering the presidential race.

With already a dozen Democrats either officially entering the race or forming exploratory committees, and ex-Vice President Joe Biden set to announce his decision about becoming a candidate in the coming month, Hickenlooper, with low national name identification, may be waiting too long to generate a serious effort. Therefore, the more time that passes, the greater the chances of this ex-two-term governor and Denver mayor not being on the ballot at all in 2020.

The Monday announcement was certainly good news for Sen. Gardner. Possibly in the most vulnerable position of any Republican senator standing for re-election in 2020 – largely because his state has voted decidedly Democratic in the past several elections – the Colorado and national party leadership had hoped to recruit Hickenlooper into the Senate race. Most political observers clearly believe he would be Gardner’s strongest general election challenger.

Right now, mostly minor candidates have announced for the senate in Colorado. The two most prominent Democratic figures are former state House speaker and defeated US Senate and congressional candidate Andrew Romanoff, and ex-state senator and defeated gubernatorial candidate Mike Johnston, who finished third in the 2018 party primary that nominated current governor, Jared Polis.

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