{"text":[[{"start":7,"text":"The US Democratic Party establishment has been rattled by another victory from the insurgent left after a longstanding incumbent was defeated by a 29-year-old first-time candidate in a primary election in Colorado."}],[{"start":19.65,"text":"Melat Kiros won the Democratic Party primary in Colorado’s first congressional district, which covers most of the Denver area, with 49.3 per cent of the vote on Tuesday."}],[{"start":31.349999999999998,"text":"Diana DeGette, who has represented the district in Congress for almost three decades, trailed on 43.5 per cent, with 84 per cent of votes counted, according to AP."}],[{"start":43.349999999999994,"text":"The upset is the latest in a string of defeats for longtime Democratic incumbents. Kiros was born in 1997, the same year DeGette was sworn in to Congress. Her victory underscores the growing power of the party’s left wing."}],[{"start":57.24999999999999,"text":"Kiros was endorsed by progressive Vermont senator Bernie Sanders and California Democratic congressman Ro Khanna. She was backed by Justice Democrats, the group that helped catapult Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez to Congress in 2018."}],[{"start":73.44999999999999,"text":"Her victory comes a week after three congressional candidates backed by New York City’s mayor Zohran Mamdani swept their Democratic primaries, ousting two sitting lawmakers from the party."}],[{"start":84.35,"text":"The wins have energised the left, who have hailed a new era for a Democratic Party still grappling with its electoral losses in 2024."}],[{"start":92.64999999999999,"text":"“Melat Kiros’s success against a 30-year incumbent shows that the public is done with a stale status quo,” said Adam Green, co-founder of the Progressive Change Campaign Committee."}],[{"start":104.14999999999999,"text":"“Voters want a fighting Democratic Party that is not owned by corporate interests, and instead will shake up a broken economic and political system rigged for billionaires.”"}],[{"start":113.74999999999999,"text":"But the results have prompted hand-wringing in the Democratic establishment and raised questions about whether the party needs fresh leadership heading into November’s midterm elections, when control of both chambers of Congress will be up for grabs."}],[{"start":127.69999999999999,"text":"Centrist Democrats have argued that elevating Democratic Socialist candidates such as Kiros could damage the party’s brand nationwide, especially in the competitive states and swing districts that will decide the midterms."}],[{"start":141.1,"text":"Kiros made headlines in 2023 when she was fired from her role at corporate legal group Sidley Austin over her criticism of law firms’ response to campus protests after Hamas’s October 7 attack on Israel."}],[{"start":155.45,"text":"Republican leaders have been quick to claim that the Democratic Socialist candidates are representative of the wider Democratic Party."}],[{"start":163.39999999999998,"text":"US President Donald Trump last week called Democratic Socialists “hard core, godless Communists”, writing on Truth Social: “This is the most serious threat to our Country since its existence 250 years ago.”"}],[{"start":175.54999999999998,"text":"Manny Rutinel, a progressive candidate in Colorado’s eighth congressional district, which spans an area north of Denver, also defeated a more moderate opponent to win his primary on Tuesday. Rutinel will face incumbent Republican congressman Gabe Evans in November."}],[{"start":191.64999999999998,"text":"Tuesday was not a sweep for progressive candidates, however."}],[{"start":195.2,"text":"In another high-profile primary in Colorado, John Hickenlooper, the state’s 74-year-old incumbent Democratic senator, easily saw off a challenge from the left by state senator Julie Gonzales, a 43-year-old former member of the Democratic Socialists of America. "}],[{"start":212.2,"text":"Gonzales, a labour organiser, had pitched herself as a younger, more progressive alternative. Hickenlooper, who was a two-term mayor of Denver before serving two terms as the state’s governor, has vowed that if re-elected it will be his final six-year term in office."}],[{"start":227,"text":"Colorado’s other Democratic US senator, Michael Bennet, meanwhile, lost a separate primary bid on Tuesday to be the party’s next nominee for state governor to Colorado attorney-general Phil Weiser."}],[{"start":239.45,"text":"While Weiser shared many of Bennet’s policy positions, he pitched himself as an outsider candidate more willing to stand up to Trump."}],[{"start":253.35,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1782896873_1414.mp3"}