All Colorado races
2026 race

CO-01 — U.S. House

4 active candidates on file with the FEC. Incumbent: Diana Degette.

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Democratic primary · Tuesday, June 30, 2026
Called by audit: web-verified
Melat KirosWon48.6%
  • DDiana Degette· inc.Defeated44.2%
  • DWanda JamesDefeated7.3%
Election day
89days
Tuesday, November 3, 2026
Disclosed money in race
$1.6M
Candidate + outside spending. See finance breakdown below.
Incumbent

Currently in office

Challengers

Sorted by fundraising

Melat Kiros

D
ChallengerFEC H6CO01273

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Raised this cycle$379K
Cash on hand: $118K
2 defeated candidates — show

Wanda James

DDefeated
ChallengerFEC H6CO01299

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Raised this cycle$252K
Cash on hand: $54K

Santiago Emmanuel Palomino

DDefeated
ChallengerFEC H6CO01307

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Raised this cycle$6K
Cash on hand: $6K
Local signal

Early read on CO-01 — U.S. House

A directional read on where this seat is trending, from the signals we have so far. This is an early scaffold — more inputs light up as coverage and constituent activity accrue.

Coverage tone · the matchup
Recent news coverage of the nominees heading to the general election.
Melat Kirosleans negative
3 pos68 neutral15 neg86 articles
A media signal, not a poll of the district.
Constituent stakes
No one here has staked a position on a tracked vote yet. As neighbors weigh in on /pressure campaigns, the district's lean will show up here.
Money in the race

Finance breakdown

Disclosed funding shaping this race — both the money candidates raise themselves and the outside spending dropped by independent groups. Issue-ad spending by 501(c)(4) groups is excluded; the FEC doesn't require disclosure of it. See the note below for details.

Total disclosed
$1.6M
Candidate fundraising + independent expenditures (FEC).
Candidate-direct (Schedule A)
$1.6M
Raised by candidate committees themselves.
Outside spending (Schedule E)
$0
No outside spending reported yet.
CandidateRaised directlyOutside forOutside againstNet in corner
Melat Kiros(D)
$379K$379K
3 defeated candidates — show finances
CandidateRaised directlyOutside forOutside againstNet in corner
Diana Degette(D)incumbentdefeated
$977K$977K
Wanda James(D)defeated
$252K$252K
Santiago Emmanuel Palomino(D)defeated
$6K$6K
Where the money comes from

In-state vs out-of-state

Share of each candidate's itemized individual contributions from donors inside CO versus the rest of the country. Excludes sub-$200 unitemized donations (no geography on file) and PAC money — see note below.

Melat Kiros(D)40% in-state · $374K itemized
$151K in-state$224K out-of-state
3 defeated candidates — show
Diana Degette(D)defeated40% in-state · $632K itemized
$254K in-state$377K out-of-state
Wanda James(D)defeated68% in-state · $227K itemized
$155K in-state$73K out-of-state
Santiago Emmanuel Palomino(D)defeated0% in-state · $3K itemized
$0 in-state$3K out-of-state
What's counted, what isn't

Candidate-direct is each campaign's reported receipts on FEC Schedule A — individual contributions plus PAC contributions to the candidate's own committee — through the most recent filing.

Outside spending is independent expenditures on FEC Schedule E: money spent by PACs, super PACs, and party committees for or against a candidate, without legal coordination with the campaign. The committees listed under each candidate are the largest disclosed spenders on either side.

In-state vs out-of-state covers only itemized individual contributions — donations over $200, which are the only ones that carry a contributor address at the FEC. Sub-$200 unitemized donations (often a large share for grassroots campaigns) have no geography on file and are excluded, as is PAC money. So the percentages describe where a candidate's itemized individual money comes from, not where every dollar raised comes from.

Not counted: 501(c)(4) "social welfare" organizations run issue ads that frequently mention candidates by name but aren't classified as express advocacy under FEC rules — they file no Schedule E and don't appear in this breakdown. Press reporting on a race may cite figures that include this dark-money spending; ours doesn't.

Recent coverage

In the news

About this race page

Candidate roster is sourced from the FEC's active-candidate list for the 2026 cycle. Fundraising totals reflect committee filings through the last reporting period.

Alignment % compares the candidate's extracted policy positions against your quiz answers. Positions are pulled from the candidate's campaign issues page by AI; we save the source quote for each position so you can verify the extraction. Candidates without a campaign issues page show position data pending — we're working through the roster and re-checking stale extractions every 90 days.

News coverage is from the GDELT 2.0 global news feed, filtered to a curated list of national, political, and regional outlets.