Jewish community in Denver on high alert over rise of democratic socialist Melat Kiros
Independent Jewish candidate counters Kiros amid far-left's string of Democratic primary victories
By Kristine Parks , Julia Bonavita , Nikolas Lanum Fox News
Published August 1, 2026 8:00am EDT
Progressive groups celebrated a major victory when 29-year-old Democratic Socialist Melat Kiros ousted 15-term Rep. Diana DeGette in Colorado’s 1st Congressional District in June. But the Democratic primary upset heightened safety concerns among Denver’s Jewish leaders, who warn her sharp rhetoric will fuel antisemitic hostility and violence in their city.
Local Jewish leaders told Fox News Digital that Kiros has left many in the community on edge because of her controversial comments — including describing the Oct. 7 attacks as "inevitable," refusing to label a local firebombing as antisemitic, and accusing Israel of genocide and apartheid.
In the hours after Kiros claimed victory, Rabbi Menachem Lehrfield, director of the Jewish Outreach Initiative in Denver, wrote on social media that he felt fearful knowing that many of his neighbors seemed to support the kind of anti-Israel rhetoric Kiros campaigned on. After his post was met with a barrage of antisemitic comments, Lehrfield published an op-ed explaining how for observant Jews like himself, just wearing a yarmulke down the streets in Denver now feels like a dangerous thing to do.
Just 24 hours after publishing his op-ed, those fears became a reality.
"I was walking down the street right here, right outside this building, and somebody rolled down their window and yelled, ‘dirty Jew,’ to me," Lehrfield told Fox News Digital during an interview at his Denver office. "I don't know what's going to happen next time. I don't know if next time, instead of hurling vile words, they'll be hurling an explosive like the person who killed Karen Diamond in Boulder. I don't know if they're going to do something to me or my family or my community. There's a real fear that we're living with."
"What I'm most afraid of is the fact that so many of the people in my community, so many people in the district, voted for her," he added.
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