Colorado’s Democratic primaries on Tuesday will help answer a question the party has increasingly faced nationally: Are voters gravitating toward a younger, more progressive generation of leaders or sticking with established veterans?

That choice is starkly reflected in the fight to represent the state’s 1st Congressional District, where incumbent Rep. Diana DeGette has been in office for as long as her challenger, a 29-year-old democratic socialist named Melat Kiros, has been alive. Likewise in the U.S. Senate race, Sen. John Hickenlooper has spent nearly three times as many years in public office as his challenger, state Sen. Julie Gonzales, who fashions herself as an “insurgent progressive.”

And a similar, if smaller, divide separates the two Democrats competing for the U.S. House in the state’s lone swing district, a seat that will be one of the keys to controlling the chamber in President Donald Trump’s final two years in office.

In the Democratic primary for governor, however, the opposite is the case: Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser and U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet have struggled to meaningfully distinguish their agendas. Instead, the two Democrats have accused each other of pulling punches against Trump.

Democratic socialists have another shot in Denver

DeGette has comfortably controlled her House seat in Denver for nearly 30 years, then came Melat Kiros.

In a March Democratic assembly, a process to decide which candidates get on the primary ballot, DeGette barely qualified as Kiros, a first-time candidate, blew past her with more than double the votes.

While the assembly process is far from determinative of who will win Tuesday, it was a jolt for the Democratic establishment and DeGette, who’s been a progressive lawmaker herself.

Then, in New York last week, two democratic socialists and a progressive beat out establishment-backed candidates — two of whom were incumbents — in Democratic primaries for U.S. House, energizing a movement that’s just finding some political purchase.

Similar to the New York races, Kiros has the endorsement of Sen. Bernie Sanders, while DeGette is backed by Colorado’s established Democratic House delegation.

A victory by Kiros in Colorado, while far from guaranteed, would work toward cementing the nascent but clear uprising of democratic socialist candidates, which has filled some Democratic leaders with anxiety.

DeGette argues that experience in Congress is needed right now to combat Trump, while Kiros, a former attorney, accuses DeGette of ineffectiveness. Also running is University of Colorado Regent Wanda James, who may split the anti-DeGette vote.

The ‘insurgent progressive’ versus the political veteran

Gonzales, the state senator and self-fashioned “insurgent progressive,” is trying to kick Hickenlooper, the more centrist former governor of Colorado, out of his U.S. Senate seat.

She’s leaning into the same arguments that others used in challenging establishment incumbents, including that Hickenlooper is an “incrementalist.”

Gonzales has said she previously joined the Democratic Socialists of America in 2018, but that her membership has lapsed.

Hickenlooper is favored in the statewide race.

A swing district may help decide control of the House

Colorado’s 8th Congressional District is a relatively new district that stretches from the northern suburbs of Denver up through farming country.

Since its creation in 2021, it’s swung from Democratic to GOP control and is held now by Republican Rep. Gabe Evans. With Democrats aiming to take back control of the House and obstruct Trump’s agenda, the race is closely watched.

Party leaders thought a moderate like state Rep. Shannon Bird was best equipped to challenge Evans, but the district is also heavily Hispanic and poorer than much of the rest of the state.

That’s where Bird’s Democratic primary opponent state Rep. Manny Rutinel, who is Latino, has planted a flag, arguing his personal story and more aggressive economic agenda will be more potent against Evans.

Who has hit Trump harder?

Weiser and Bennet are slugging that question out in the governor’s race after struggling to show major differences in their political agendas.

Weiser attacked Bennet for voting for Trump nominees and Bennet lambasted Weiser for not joining state lawsuits against first Trump administration.

“The attorney general says he’s really tough but was completely missing in action in Donald Trump’s first term,” Bennet said in a recent debate.

Weiser accused Bennet of a weak response to the president. But he also says Bennet should remain in the Senate instead of running for governor.

“You’ve made some mistakes; you didn’t stand up the way you should. I know you can shape up, use your seniority,” Weiser told Bennet during a debate. “With all that experience, to throw it away, would be such a waste for Colorado.”

With Colorado a blue state, Tuesday’s Democratic winner will be seen as the favorite to defeat the winner of the GOP primary and take over from term-limited Gov. Jared Polis.

The three main candidates seeking the Republican nomination include state Rep. Scott Bottoms, a farther right state lawmaker. State Sen. Barbara Kirkmeyer is considered the more conventional Republican, while Victor Marx is something of a wild card candidate with an eclectic past.

Candidate vying for Tina Peters’ old seat echoes her conspiracy theories

Peters was the Mesa County clerk who was convinced by Trump’s debunked claims of mass fraud in the 2020 election and eventually convicted in a scheme to make a copy of the county’s election computer system.

Candidate Abby Silzell is vying for Peters’ old job and repeating similar claims as she challenges incumbent Bobbie Gross.

Both are Republicans, and Silzell told CPR News that she believes Peter’s conviction was a “miscarriage of justice” and that in the 2020 election there was enough fraud to “affect the outcome.”

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KKTV) – Recent rounds of heavy rain, hail and thunderstorms have brought much-needed moisture to southern Colorado, but experts say the storms have done little to ease the region’s ongoing drought.

Much of southern Colorado remains in moderate to exceptional drought, according to the latest U.S. Drought Monitor, with long-term moisture deficits continuing to impact soils and vegetation.

“A couple thunderstorms, a few days of off-and-on scattered rain, really isn’t going to do anything to fix that,” said Michael Garberoglio, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Pueblo.

Garberoglio said it will take widespread, sustained precipitation over weeks or months to significantly improve drought conditions.

“We need much more moisture over a much larger area for a much longer period of time to really start negating these exceptionally dry conditions we’ve been under,” he said.

The persistent drought is raising concerns ahead of the Fourth of July holiday, when many Coloradans are expected to celebrate with fireworks and outdoor gatherings.

“I really can’t understate the danger,” Garberoglio said. “It’s a very volatile situation. We just have not gotten enough water and it’s become frankly unsafe.”

He said fire danger can vary significantly from one location to another, even within the same county, meaning some areas remain dry enough for a single spark to ignite a wildfire.

“These fires can spread over multiple acres in just a couple of short minutes and can impact much more than anyone would initially expect,” Garberoglio said. “These little things can have months of impacts if people aren’t cautious.”

Garberoglio urged residents to follow local fire restrictions and guidance from emergency officials before using fireworks or participating in activities that could spark a fire.

“When you’re keeping things in mind and listening to the professionals, it’s not just for you, but you’re helping out your family, your neighbor,” he said.

DENVER (KDVR) — Fast-moving fires in western Colorado, including on the Colorado-Utah border, continue to burn Sunday afternoon.

On the Colorado-Utah border, the Snyder Mesa Fire has burned over 28,000 acres as of Sunday morning, prompting evacuations in Mesa County, officials reported. At that time, the fire was 0% contained.

The Snyder Mesa Fire broke out sometime Friday evening or Saturday morning, according to the Upper Colorado River Interagency Fire Management Unit. Several fires, including the Knowles and Gore fires, combined on Saturday to form the Snyder Mesa Fire.

Three federal firefighters died and two were injured while responding to the Knowles and Gore fires on Saturday.

⬇️ Jump to: Live blog with updates below.

Ouray County has declared a state of emergency due to the Gold Mountain Fire. The fire sparked on Saturday on U.S. Forest Service land, according to the Ouray County Sheriff’s Office. The fire has triggered mandatory evacuation orders and roadway closures.

Ouray County officials reported the Gold Mountain Fire burned 560 acres as of 1:08 p.m.

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