The three Democratic candidates for Colorado’s 1st Congressional District clashed on Friday night over a host of issues, even as they expressed frustration with their party.

The candidates — U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette, doctoral student Melat Kiros and university regent Wanda James — took part in the forum moderated by Colorado Politics reporters on Friday evening at the Denver Press Club ahead of the June 30 primary election. It marks one of the only times that DeGette, who has served in Congress since 1997, has joined such an event in this election cycle.

A recent poll by the progressive think tank Data For Progress shows Kiros, a 29-year-old Democratic Socialist, leading the race by 5 percentage points over DeGette.

During the forum, DeGette argued that now is not the time to change who represents the district in Congress, saying she is best positioned to deliver for Colorado, given her experience and what she has already accomplished for the state. Kiros and James, on the other hand, countered that real change will only occur if one of them is elected.

Both Kiros and DeGette qualified for the primary at the Democratic Party assembly in March, with the latter only clearing the required 30% threshold by 3 points. Kiros received over 67% of the vote. James, a member of the University of Colorado Board of Regents, qualified for the primary via petition.

During the forum, DeGette focused on her experience in Congress pushing for critical measures, such as the 21st Century Cures Act, a 2016 law that increased funding for medical research and delivery of medical treatments. She added that, if she is elected to another term, she will chair a U.S. House Health subcommittee and will ensure “Medicaid for All” becomes law.

“I will reinstate Medicaid benefits to our Coloradans, and I will continue to fight against Donald Trump and his administration from Day One,” she said. “I have the power and the ability to do that.”

Kiros and DeGette frequently traded barbs throughout the evening.

Kiros pointed to DeGette’s history of receiving contributions from political action committees, while, she said, her own campaign is entirely publicly funded.

“We know we need Medicare for All, we know we need housing first, we know we need universal childcare, but until we have Democrats that aren’t taking money from the same corporations and billionaires that don’t want those things to pass, we will never see those things come to fruition,” she said.

DeGette pushed back.

“Nobody ever gave me a contribution and got anything in advance, and if people think that they can buy my vote by making a contribution, they are sorely, sorely mistaken,” she said.

“We are literally living under an oligarchy right now, and the suggestion that corporations and special interests are donating to members of Congress out of the kindness of their hearts without anything in return is ridiculous,” Kiros replied. “If the congresswoman wants to make it clear that she is not bought and paid for, then I invite her to stop taking super PAC money.”

DeGette and Kiros have been at odds throughout the campaign cycle, with DeGette posting on Facebook earlier this week that Kiros has been “lying about her since she launched her campaign.”

James joked she was proud to be the “grown-up in the room.” She noted she was the first Black woman commissioned through the University of Colorado’s Naval ROTC program and served four years in the military. She spoke of how her time in the service trained her to get along with people from all backgrounds, something she believed would serve her well in Congress.

“A lot of our veterans tend to be Republican in what they do,” she said. “I have absolutely no issue in working with different people from different sides of the aisle and bringing the consensus on the things that we can agree on and the things that we can get done.”

While the candidates disagreed on some policy issues, all three expressed frustrations with the current state of the Democratic Party.

“Democrats have talked about the things that they want to do and then failed when it comes to being able to get them done,” James said, pointing to “Medicaid for All” and lower prescription drug costs as examples.

Reaching across the aisle is vital in politics, she added, but there are also times when Democrats need to stand their ground, such as when it comes to rights for women and the LGBTQ community.

“I feel like the Democrats have been weak in everything that is important to us,” James said. “We have compromised too many times.”

“The reality is, money in politics is what’s preventing real change from happening and so in order for the Democratic Party to actually fulfill its progressive agenda, we need to have members that are un-bought and unafraid to stand up to the billionaires and corporations,” Kiros said.

Both James and Kiros expressed support for limiting terms for both members of Congress and Supreme Court justices.

Kiros pushed for 18-year term limits for elected officials, arguing it is just the right amount of time to effect meaningful change and mentor younger generations of legislators.

DeGette disagreed.

“We are subject to term limits,” she said. “It’s called elections every two years, and I believe every two years, I am up for re-hiring, and that’s why we’re here tonight.”

DeGette frequently cited her lengthy career in Congress as a reason to re-elect her, saying she does’t believe now is the time to bring someone new onto a job that, she emphasized, takes years to learn.

“We have an affordability crisis where people can’t afford to buy their food and pay for their childcare,” she said. “We don’t have 18 years for a new person to come in and ‘learn the ropes’. That’s why people need to support me — because I know the ropes.”

James disagreed, pointing to U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse, a Democrat representing Colorado’s 2nd Congressional District.

“Joe Neguse got elected in 2019,” she said. “He is now No. 4 in the House. It does not require 30 years to learn this job. This is not rocket science. It does not require being in office that long to be able to be effective in what you are doing and to be able to make change.”