Socialist upstart and outspoken Israel antagonist Melat Kiros could face a second challenger next fall following her June 30 Democratic primary upset victory over 15-term Democratic U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette in Denver.

Kiros will square off with Denver Republican Christy Peterson on Nov. 3 in vying to represent Colorado’s heavily Democratic 1st Congressional District.

Now, as reported in The Gazette, Shimon Blau, a physician and Israel supporter, has thrown his hat in the ring. 

Blau turned in signed petitions last week in hopes of qualifying as an unaffiliated candidate to challenge Kiros on the November ballot. He awaits approval of his candidacy.

Blau’s dash to last Thursday’s filing deadline made clear that Denver’s historic Jewish community — which played a pivotal role founding the capital city — now feels under siege from within Democratic Party ranks. 

Blau’s candidacy illustrates how Denver’s dominant Democrats — whose ranks include many prominent members of the Jewish community, including Blau — seek a credible alternative to Kiros’ shrill, fringe politics. Especially when it comes to her bashing Israel.

Kiros’ win made national news not just because she touts the voodoo economics of socialism but also because of her unrelenting condemnations of U.S. ally Israel and her refusal to distance herself from rabid antisemitism.

One month after Hamas’ attack, Kiros penned an online missive blasting hundreds of law firms for signing a letter urging law schools to crack down on campus antisemitism. Kiros chided the law firms for equating “calls for the elimination of the Israeli state” with antisemitism.

Antisemitism is often dressed in the language of anti-Israel or anti-Zionist politics. Kiros’ post was a case in point. She more recently has doubled down on her belief that Israel should be eliminated as a Jewish state.

Jews know the real-world consequences of such an action. Calling for an end to the world’s foremost refuge for Jewish people — who barely survived the Holocaust — is antisemitic.

Kiros wants to strip all U.S. military aid from Israel — including the defensive Iron Dome and David’s Sling systems.

Asked whether Israel “had it coming” when Hamas terrorists attacked on Oct. 7, 2023, she insisted “not at all” — then articulated why she thought the tiny country had brought it upon itself. There can only be peace building once Israel becomes “responsive to our demands,” she proclaimed.

Kiros was asked whether last year’s firebombing of Jewish protesters on Boulder’s Pearl Street Mall — they were calling for the release of Hamas hostages — was antisemitic.

Her lawyerly response was hair splitting and cold.

“I don’t know what was in the heart of the perpetrator. All I know is that he went and attacked innocent people because of what they might believe,” she said, adding, “I don’t know what his intentions were.”

The attacker, Mohamed Sabry Soliman — who pleaded guilty to charges including the first-degree murder of 82-year-old Karen Diamond — had shouted “Free Palestine!” and admitted he had targeted a “Zionist group supporting the killings of people” in Palestine.

It’s troubling Kiros won’t acknowledge what even the perpetrator made clear.

Denver is home to one of the oldest and most deeply rooted Jewish communities in the Western U.S. Jewish Denverites were among the city’s founding families. They’ve been a cultural, economic and social cornerstone since before statehood.

That community is now understandably alarmed, deeply disillusioned — and pushing back.

Blau’s challenge is uphill. The fact that he’s giving Denver and particularly Denver Democrats a meaningful alternative says a lot about how far their party has veered off course.