Democratic Socialist Melat Kiros’ surprising defeat of 15-term Congresswoman Diana DeGette may be creating a void within Denver’s voter base — and at least one latecomer is jumping into that gap, petitioning to get himself on the November ballot as an independent candidate.

Dr. Shimon Blau told The Denver Gazette he spent the weekend stewing about the direction of the state’s politics following last week’s primary election and Kiros’ victory. On Monday, he carried out a frenzied exchange of phone calls with the Colorado Secretary of State’s office to obtain the right application.

Late that afternoon, Blau said, he filed the paperwork to petition for valid signatures in Colorado’s 1st Congressional District. If he can come up with 1,500 of those by Thursday afternoon at 5 p.m., he could end up facing off as an independent candidate against Kiros and Republican candidate Christy Peterson of South Denver.

Appearing on the ballot opposite the mainstream party candidates requires the candidate to be registered as independent.

“This campaign is important to us as Americans,” said Mordy Kadovitz of Southmoor Park, who was out gathering signatures Tuesday on Blau’s behalf. Kadovitz, like Blau, said he has been registered as an independent for 10 years.

Oct. 7 attack

“The people of Denver and this country are sick and tired of the far left and the far right creating hateful politics. We need to gather behind candidates like Dr. Blau,” Kadovitz said.

Blau said he’s rapidly attracted support from Denver’s Jewish community, concerned about comments by Kiros that laid blame for Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel, labeling it as an apartheid state.

But Blau, a practitioner in pain management, said he was also reaching out to Christian churches in Denver and is seeing support from there as well.

“I have a lot of people who are not Jewish at all come in and sign,” Blau said.

Petition signers, according to Kadovitz, need not be registered as independents.

“Only eligible electors within the district or political subdivision may sign the petition,” according to the Secretary of State’s website. “An elector may not sign more than one candidate’s petition for the same office.”

Kiros’ comments with respect to Israel and the Gaza war, as well as her avowed identification as a Democratic Socialist, had immediately drawn comparisons to recent electoral successes by New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson and other elected officials on the party’s left wing. The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post had all written front-section stories on the Denver race following Kiros’ strong victory last Tuesday.

“I want to give people a voice,” Blau said Tuesday, branding what he calls “the rhetoric” of Kiros and her supporters as “antisemitic.”

“Some of her more radical, socialist ideas bother me,” he said.

He went on to define his own positioning as “much more of a moderate. I tend to lean to the left on social issues and right on the fiscal ones.

“But I can also understand there is a lot of nuance to those issues,” Blau said.

Currently, the November ballot will almost certainly list as candidates both Kiros and her Republican opponent Peterson, who ran unopposed. Peterson has repeatedly been approached by The Denver Gazette for comments on the race and has only briefly responded, vowing to grant an interview later.

According to data from the Secretary of State, Denver County shows 40% of voters registered as Democrats, 9% as Republicans and 51% as unaffiliated.

The ballot could also show 1st Congressional District candidacies for a Libertarian Party candidate, Chad Humphrey and for a Unity Party candidate, Christopher “Critter” Milton.

High-profile race

Asked whether he believes that he could achieve financial backing to run a high-profile Congressional race if he gets the required signatures, Blau said he is confident he would and believes he could defeat Kiros.

“I have ideas on funding,” Blau said. “I have spoken to many in the community and there is a groundswell of disappointment with the current nominees.”

Blau’s supporters said they are gathering signatures Wednesday and Thursday at East Side Kosher Deli, 499 S. Elm Street in Denver; at King Soopers at 890 S. Monaco Parkway, and at R2 Medical Clinic at 1873 S. Bellaire St.

Blau, a Denver native, said he has no campaign website yet but has a Facebook page.