Melat Kiros (born 1997)[1] is an American lawyer, graduate student, and politician.[2]
Kiros supports Medicare for All, abolishing ICE, federal rent control, and a moratorium on data centers.
Early life and education Kiros was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to a family of Tigrayan origin, and her parents immigrated to the United States when she was an infant.According to her campaign website, Kiros was born "weeks before" her father was picked in the United States' Diversity Visa Lottery.
Kiros grew up in Aurora, Colorado,[6][7] and attended Eaglecrest High School.[8] She graduated from Washington College in Maryland, and Notre Dame Law School in 2022.[9] After that, Kiros worked in the New York office of Sidley Austin.[
In 2023, she published a post on Medium criticizing law firms, including her own, for opposing pro-Palestine protests and highlighting the "chilling future lawyers' employment prospects for criticism of the Israeli government's actions and its legitimacy".[11][10] Sidley Austin asked Kiros to take the letter down. When she refused, she was fired.
After leaving Sidley Austin, Kiros returned to Colorado, enrolled in a PhD program at the University of Colorado Denver School of Public Affairs, and worked as a barista to help pay off her student loans.[4][13]
2026 congressional campaign
On July 9, 2025, Kiros announced her candidacy for the United States House of Representatives for Colorado's 1st congressional district, challenging incumbent Diana DeGette, who was first elected to Congress in 1996. During the primary, Kiros was endorsed by Justice Democrats, the Democratic Socialists of America, the Working Families Party, and US Senator Bernie Sanders.[2][15] DeGette was endorsed by the Congressional Progressive Caucus.[16] The Colorado Sun reported that the Israeli–Palestinian conflict was the largest policy difference between Kiros and DeGette; Kiros supported an embargo on all arms sales to Israel and said Israel should no longer be a Jewish state, calling it an ethnocracy.[2]
The primary campaign saw large amounts of outside spending, primarily supporting DeGette and attacking Kiros.[2] Three Super PACs spent $1.3 million on advertisements attacking Kiros in the campaign's last two months.[17] Kiros won the primary on June 30.[18] If elected, she will be the first Generation Z woman elected to Congress and the second Generation Z member of Congress, after Maxwell Frost.[18]
Political positions Democratic socialism Kiros is a democratic socialist. She supports expanding public social programs in light of market disruption caused by artificial intelligence and automation. Kiros pledged to refuse corporate political action committee (PAC) donations.[19][13] Climate change Kiros supports a Green New Deal and argues that transportation policy should emphasize public transport and pedestrian-centered neighborhoods rather than relying mainly on electric vehicles.[19] Kiros supports a moratorium on data centers until federal labor and environmental regulations are in place, and said data-center companies should generate their own renewable energy.[19] Healthcare and childcare Kiros supports Medicare for All, cancellation of medical debt, federal drug-price caps, and breaking up monopolies in the pharmaceutical, health insurance, and health-care provider sectors.[19][20] She supports increased childcare subsidies, capping childcare costs at 10% of family income, and making childcare free for families below a certain income level.[19] Housing Kiros supports upzoning and permitting reform, federal rent control, and social housing.[19] Immigration Kiros supports hiring more immigration judges, caseworkers, and border-processing staff to make the immigration system faster. She supports abolishing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and releasing people without criminal records from ICE detention.[19] Inequality and wages Kiros supports raising the federal minimum wage to match local living costs, with a floor of at least $15 per hour, and has said it may need to be $22 per hour in some cities or districts.[19] She supports closing tax loopholes and higher taxes on the "ultra wealthy".[19] Foreign policy Kiros supports a 10% reduction in Pentagon spending, arguing that reducing the military budget would decrease incentives for defense contractors and the military-industrial complex to support war.[19][21] She opposes continued U.S. military aid to Israel, calling Israel's actions in Gaza a genocide, and has called for a full U.S. arms embargo on Israel, including defensive weapons.[19][20][22] Kiros opposed U.S. military action against Iran, saying there was no security threat and no indication that Iran was close to building nuclear weapons, and said she would support congressional action to reclaim war powers.[19][21]
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