Will the media help the Republicans with Kiros as they've helped Dems in the past? ProPublica's 527 explorer. Curious about data centers?
Of course the Republicans want to tie Kiros to all Dems, the question is whether the media will help as they have helped Democrats.
I had to chuckle reading the Sun article linked first below. The headline reads, "Republicans’ new strategy in Colorado: Tie every Democrat to Melat Kiros". This is followed in short order by the following quote, "It’s a tried and true line of political attack deployed by Democrats and Republicans alike across the country, especially in swing districts. Kiros is now for Republicans what Trump has long been for Democrats: an easy foil."
That's accurate. Fact check true. Both parties try to find an extreme member of the other party and extrapolate from that. Thing is, while Colorado's lefty press like the Sun will take time to call this out when it's "Republicans Pounce!", they themselves have been active and helpful partners to Democrats in their efforts, just not as willing to openly put themselves in the limelight.
Examples abound. You needn't look far.
Go and type the words site:coloradosun.com "Oltmann" into Google.*
Go and type the words site:https://x.com/KyleClark?lang=en "Oltmann" into Google.
Read how a Sun reporter characterizes things Rep Scott Bottoms has said. Quoting from the second link below: "Scott Bottoms, who was recently elected to represent House District 15 in Colorado Springs, is the lead pastor at Church at Briargate since June 2012, and as a member what he calls the 'far right' has preached anti-gay and anti-trans sentiments."
Read the two CPR articles linked fourth and fifth below for interviews between Ryan Warner and Western Slope Congressman Jeff Hurd. In between a few policy questions, things that might matter to voters in his district, Warner asks Hurd about supposed Nazi salutes by Elon Musk, and Trump's (quoting the third link) "...34 felonies and his attempt to overturn an election his own people and court after court said was fair". This latter coming after multiple other mentions of Trump, elections etc.
You see it time and again. Lefty media forging the chain linking all Republicans to extremism and to conservative extremists, handing Democrats the pieces they need to pursue their political strategy.
For example, Kyle Clark's claim about the "prominent far-right voice in Colorado politics" Joe Oltmann attached as screenshot 2. I am not the most plugged-in of people, but I never heard of Oltmann until Clark mentioned his name.
Perhaps "prominent" isn't the most apt adjective, unless of course you want to make it seem as though this extremist is right in the middle of the opposition party.**
If you go looking for references to some of the extremists on the other side of the political aisle tied to Melat Kiros, the examples are fewer and farther between. On the plus side, you will find a fair bit of lefty media soft-pedaling though. So there's that.
As an example, I want to highlight Kiros' relationship with the extremist and Twitch streamer Hasan Piker (I'm old enough to not be fully sure what this is, so for our purposes, let's consider that Twitch streamer = podcaster). If you want to read up on this ... "gentleman" you'll find a Wikipedia explainer about him linked sixth below, including some of the execrable things he's said.
That Kiros and Piker are friends is easy enough to spot. The image heading this post is from Kiros' Instagram and Piker's right in there with her. You'll also see her buddy at her campaign watch party on primary election night. Screenshot 1 attached comes from the seventh link below.
From that same article, you'll get the following characterization of Piker. Quoting: "Around 7:30 p.m., Hasan Piker, an influential Twitch streamer and political commentator, pulled up a seat at Kiros’ watch party in front of a computer where results were updating. Piker, who has millions of followers on Twitch and Instagram, has also had allegations of antisemitism lobbed at him for his diatribes against the Zionist movement."
Political commentator who has (note the passive voice to blunt it) "...had allegations of antisemitism lobbed at him". And all that just because of his "...diatribes against the Zionist movement"?
Go and read Piker's Wikipedia page and see all the things he's said. Then tell me if it's just diatribes against Zionism that earned him this label. Then consider this lukewarm, grey dishwater language in opposition to how the Sun labeled things said by a sitting state rep. There's no ambiguity or passive-voice in saying his words are "anti-gay and anti-trans".
Now let's turn to CPR's even weaker characterization of Piker (quoting from the ninth link below with link intact): "But [State Senator Julie] Gonzales’ campaign has been aggressive in other ways. She has done several interviews with media outlets, organized numerous campaign events and even appeared on Twitch political commentator Hasan Piker’s stream."
Don't misunderstand me. I have no problem with reporting what people say and who they associate with.
What I'm arguing for is a single standard that applies equally to all. If the media want to point out extremism among Republicans, and help Democrats rope all Republicans in with the nutcases, that's fine as long as the reverse happens: they need to work just as assiduously in tying Democrats to the awful things Kiros and Piker say. They need to spend just as much time pointing out Piker's terrible positions and words as they do Oltmann's.
To be fair, you see some scattered references here and there; Kyle Clark gave Kiros a love tap, CPR had one article coming close to a full characterization of Piker (see "Related" below). These are two teacups against two 50 gallon barrels, however.
Some of this has to do with timing. I realize that Kiros and Piker are relatively new in Colorado politics, as such some lack of reporting on them is to be expected.
If things going forward look as they have so far, however, it will be a clear, indisputable example of a double standard. The media cannot ignore and downplay for one ideology (and not another) without tipping their hand on who they favor.
I reached out to some of the reporters mentioned here to check in on their plans and reporting thus far. As of this writing, I've not gotten any responses, but if I do and the reporters don't want it to be private (something that happens with some regularity), I'll update.
*Here I reference right wing extremist and podcaster Joe Oltmann. A Wikipedia explainer on the man is linked third below if you're curious.
**In that screenshot, I included another of Clark's threaded replies for what he would likely say is the basis for his claim of prominence. Thing is, if you research who signed this pledge, you see that this is another case of Clark parsing his words as carefully as a career politician.
If you would like to know just which elected officials signed onto this pledge, the Denver Post article linked eighth below details some. Quoting: "Among those who signed are at least five active or recent state lawmakers: Reps. Kim Ransom of Douglas County and Mike Lynch of Larimer County; former Reps. Richard Champion of Arapahoe County and Lori Saine of Weld County, the latter of whom is running for Congress in the new 8th District; and former state Sen. Vicki Marble of Larimer County. Also signed on were commissioners from at least five Front Range counties and Parker Mayor Jeff Toberg." Yes. Big names in conservative circles.
https://coloradosun.com/2026/07/03/melat-kiros-colorado-democrats-republican-attacks/
https://coloradosun.com/2022/11/20/colorado-springs-club-q-lgbtq-trans/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Oltmann
https://www.cpr.org/2025/02/27/interview-gop-rep-jeff-hurd-speaks-on-doge-medicaid-and-nazi-salutes/
https://www.cpr.org/2024/09/09/interview-jeff-hurd-colorado-3rd-congressional-district/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hasan_Piker
https://coloradosun.com/2026/06/30/colorado-primary-election-diana-degette-melat-kiros-results/
https://www.denverpost.com/2021/12/11/colorad-gop-burton-brown-elections/
https://www.cpr.org/2026/06/30/colorado-us-senate-primary-election-2026-results/
Related:
Fairness dictates that I include the following, a CPR characterization of Hasan Piker that's does a much better job than the Sun (or the other CPR article I share above) does of characterizing the man. Quoting from the link at bottom, with embedded links intact:
"In Denver, Kiros embraced the leftist mega-streamer Hasan Piker, who has attracted criticism from some Jewish groups for his statements about Israel, including that Hamas is the “lesser evil." Several local venues recently canceled plans to host a joint event with Kiros and Piker."
https://www.cpr.org/2026/07/01/what-is-the-dsa-who-is-melat-kiros/
ProPublica’s 527 explorer
I wanted to share a new tool I'd found with you and illustrate its use with an example.
The first link below is to ProPublica's (a reference group long-time readers will well recognize for their tools on nonprofits) 527 explorer.
Let's stop there for a second and come back to it. If you are not familiar with the term, a 527 group is a group used to influence elections. The intro paragraph of the Wikipedia explainer linked second below summarizes it pretty well. I attach that as screenshot 1 due to its length.
ProPublica's tool lets you examine a variety of things about any of the 527's it has data on. I mentioned an example, so let's dig in. I chose to look at the 527 "Act Blue".
Putting that organization into the search bar and searching returns what you see in Screenshot 2 attached.
I chose to look at Colorado using the filter at right. See screenshot 3.
Following the more interesting of the two results shows how Act Blue has given money to Rocky Mountain Emerge, a group which used to (see the highlighting in the picture--if I've understood it right) act as an incubator for female, Democrat politicians. See screenshot 4.
Boy have they given big too! Lots of money flowing. If you look on the right hand side of this picture, you'll see who's given lots of money to RM Emerge. The teachers union through their PAC for one.
Let's change things up. Returning to the main search page, I put in the term "ActBlue Non-Federal" (the non federal arm of the group) and winnowed the searches to money that went to places in Colorado.**
Screenshot 5 shows one of the first kinds of searches you can run. Look for expenditures to see where ActBlue Non-federal is sending money in Colorado.
Screenshot 6 shows another search. With these settings shown you can see who is giving to ActBlue from Colorado.
For either search you can refine things further by date and/or amount.
Couple interesting notes to share on who is giving money. One, I see a lot of people who give regularly who do not have a job. I also saw some interesting patterns by downloading the data and searching in that file. Lots of state employees and employees of CU in Boulder are quite active givers to Act Blue.
If you like tinkering, take a minute and do some of your own. Always open to any interesting patterns you see and possible stories from them. Message me here if you find something worth sharing.
**See "Related" below.
https://projects.propublica.org/527-explorer/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/527_organization
Related:
The intersection of gubernatorial candidate Phil Weiser and ActBlue from a recent newsletter:
https://coloradoaccountabilityproject.substack.com/p/the-10th-circuit-of-court-of-appeals?utm_source=publication-search
Curious about data centers?
Independence Institute's group Independent Majority (see the first link below) is doing a lunch and learn on them with their energy policy fellow Sarah Montalbano tomorrow.
The image heading this post is the email I received on it, and you'll find the Zoom link second below if you want to sign up.
https://independentmajority.co/