Medicare for All
Cut out the insurance middleman and guarantee healthcare to every American
JUNE 2026
Who is running attack ads against Melat? Why?
Diana DeGette, Melat’s opponent, has been in Congress since 1997. In that time, she has taken almost $5.5 million from corporate PACs.
Now, outside Super PACs are dumping hundreds of thousands of dollars into the race on ads attacking Melat because she is a threat to the establishment, and the corporate donors they are beholden to.
One Super PAC, Mile High Accountability, has already spent $350,000 and was created just two months ago with no public donors. We won’t know who is behind these outside PACs until after the Primary, which is convenient, and the definition of dark money.
Another corporate PAC run by real estate lobby’s National Association of Realtors is pouring thousands into the race to stop Melat because she will actually fight for affordable housing in Denver — while DeGette is being bankrolled by the very lobby raising our rents.
On June 17th, two more DC super pacs, Project 218 and Pro-Choice Majority Action, dumped almost $900,000 into the race to attack Melat.
Who Would Want To Hide Their Support For Diana DeGette?
$1,265,609
Total spent by out-of-state Super PACs to attack Melat.
$5.4M+
Amount DeGette has received in corporate PAC money over her career
$698K
Amount Degette has received in PAC money in the 2024 cycle alone
64%
Percentage of Degette’s fundraising from corporate PACs
3.59%
Percentage of DeGette’s fundraising from small individual donors
DO THE MATH
Can a candidate who accepts money like this keep their promises to the people?
Degette’s Biggest Corporate Donors by Industry
Rep. Diana DeGette has held this seat for 30 years. Nearly two-thirds of her campaign money comes from corporate PACs, with Big Pharma and corporate healthcare lobbies making up the bulk of that, while she sits on the very subcommittee that is supposed to regulate the industry. She pretends to support Medicare for All while being bankrolled by the very lobbies trying to stop it from passing. Even the National Nurses United said about her: “To win Medicare for All and finally end corporate control over our health care, candidates and elected officials must refuse to be bought and paid for by the pharmaceutical, hospital, and insurance industries.”
She also directly takes tens of thousands of dollars from real estate, big tech, and ICE contractors.
Healthcare (doctors, hospitals, medical industry)
$721,721
Pharmaceutical companies
$349,200
Telecom / Cable (Comcast, AT&T, Charter, DISH)
$257,223
Law Firms / Trial Lawyers
$138,800
Food / Beverage / Agriculture
$118,700
Real Estate
$91,300
Technology (including AI/data)
$90,200
Insurance (Cigna, Aetna, UnitedHealth)
$87,500
Energy
$63,000
ICE Contractors (Comcast, Deloitte, AT&T, Charter, L3Harris)
$66,500
Degette’s Top Individual Mega-Donors
Among DeGette's biggest contributors are some of the wealthiest in America:
Fisher Family (Gap, Banana Republic, Old Navy fortune) — $174,500 across 8 family members
Sean & Alexandra Parker (Facebook founding president, net worth ~$3B) — $57,600
Charles & Cantey Ergen (DISH Network/EchoStar founder, CO billionaire, net worth ~$10B) — $54,400
Pat Stryker (CO billionaire, heir to Stryker medical device fortune) — $32,700
Norman Brownstein (Denver's most powerful lobbyist; former AIPAC national board member) — $25,700
GET YOUR FACTS STRAIGHT
Who Is Melat Kiros?
Melat Kiros is an immigrant raised in Denver, a lawyer who was fired for defending students' right to protest genocide, and the first person to force Diana DeGette into a real primary fight in 30 years. She has been endorsed by Senator Bernie Sanders, Justice Democrats, Democratic Socialists of America, Working Families Party and more.
Melat's family immigrated to Denver from Tigray, Ethiopia in 1998. She grew up here with her parents, little sister, and extended family of aunties, uncles, and cousins. Melat earned her law degree from Notre Dame and in 2023, she was fired from her corporate law firm after she publicly defended students' right to protest the genocide in Gaza. After she was fired, Melat moved home to Denver and has been working in a local coffee shop while running for Congress.
AN IMMIGRANT
RAISED IN DENVER
Tigrayan-Ethiopian American. Eaglecrest High School. Her family came to Denver in 1998 and still lives here.
A CRUSADER
FIRED FOR SPEAKING up
Lost her law job for defending students' right to protest Gaza genocide. Didn't back down.
PEOPLE-POWERED
100% people powered
Takes zero corporate PAC money. Raising the most from individual donors of any candidate in the race.
WHAT THEY'RE ATTACKING MELAT FOR
Calling to end U.S. funding of Israel's military
Supporting a moratorium on AI data centers
Calling to abolish ICE
Refusing corporate PAC money — including from AIPAC and tech lobbyists
Supporting affordable housing policies
Holding establishment Democrats accountable
WHAT A MAJORITY OF DENVER VOTERS BELIEVE
U.S. tax dollars should not fund genocide
AI companies should be regulated, not handed blank checks
ICE has terrorized our communities and must be replaced
Politicians should answer to voters, not donors
Denver deserves a representative who actually shows up
What Melat Will Fight For
Abolish ICE
Replace it with legal pathways, asylum judges, and community safety
End All Wars
End Israel's genocide in Gaza and Trump's war in Iran; redirect $3.8B in military aid to housing, healthcare, and education
Invest in Our Future
Universal childcare and free public education
Tax The Rich
End billionaire handouts — tax the rich, reverse the Trump tax cuts
NO CORPORATE PAC $$$
No corporate PAC money, ever — will not vote for any Democrat in leadership who takes corporate PAC money