First Gen Z Congresswoman: DSA's Melat Kiros on Corruption, Medicare for All & Israel

The Democratic Socialists of America made major gains in this year’s U.S. midterms, electing not just the largest-ever socialist bloc to Congress, but also winning dozens of races at the state, county and municipal levels. Democracy Now! spoke with Congressmember-elect Melat Kiros on election night following her victory in Denver, Colorado. She identified Medicare for All as her top priority and said progressives must lay the groundwork “so that in ’29, when we have the House, the Senate and the White House, we can sign it into law on day one.”

Kiros is a 29-year-old Ethiopian immigrant and lawyer. In 2023, Kiros wrote an open letter about the danger of conflating antisemitism and criticism of Israel, for which she was fired by her law firm. She won a major upset in the Democratic primary earlier this year against longtime incumbent Congressmember Diana DeGette.