What to watch for in Colorado tonight: From the Politics Desk

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In today’s edition, Steve Kornacki previews the Colorado primaries, the next test for establishment Democrats. Plus, we wrap up all the fallout from the last day of the Supreme Court’s term.

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What to watch for in Colorado tonight

Analysis by Steve Kornacki

Another Tuesday, another set of endangered incumbents.

The setting this week is Colorado , where both U.S. senators and a long-tenured House member confront Democratic primary threats.

Arguably the most vulnerable is Rep. Diana DeGette , who has represented the Denver-based 1st District since 1997. She is being opposed by Melot Kiros , who has the backing of the Democratic Socialists of America and has made criticism of Israel central to her campaign. Insurgencies like hers have succeeded in several other urban districts this year, most notably in New York City just last week. Demographically, the 1st District, with a population heavy with young, educated progressives, would seem to be fertile ground for Kiros.

Sen. Michael Bennet is also clearly in trouble as he bids to become governor. His opponent, state Attorney General Phil Weiser , has a conventional political background but has leaned into the apparent leftward energy in the party.

The real question is how much peril Bennet’s Senate colleague, John Hickenlooper , faces. Hickenlooper, who is in his first term, is being challenged by Julie Gonzales , a state senator from Denver, who is running on a left-wing platform and has long-standing ties to the DSA . The same voters who are powering Kiros could boost Gonzales in Denver, where about 20% of all votes statewide will be cast. The progressive mecca of Boulder, where another 10% of the vote will come from, could also be a rich source for Gonzales.

But whether there’s a broader appetite for her candidacy is unclear. A poll conducted last month by a progressive firm for an unknown client found Hickenlooper with a single-digit lead over Gonzales. There are no other public surveys to compare that result to — whether it’s a portent or a red herring is anyone’s guess.

Certainly, there is a pronounced progressive strain among Colorado Democrats. In 2020, Sen. Bernie Sanders , I-Vt., easily won the presidential primary. And the combined vote share for Sanders and Sen. Elizabeth Warren , D-Mass., was more than 55%. A few months after that, Hickenlooper won the Democratic Senate primary over a well-known progressive opponent 59-41%, carrying all but one county.

The vast majority of votes are cast by mail in Colorado, with counties typically tallying and reporting out giant initial batches shortly after polls close. In 2024, half of the vote was released within the first hour and 75% by midnight. But after that, results slowed to a dayslong trickle as counties methodically worked to process mail ballots.

Further complicating expectations for tonight is that younger, progressive voters have demonstrated across multiple states this year a tendency to return ballots at the last minute. Often, those votes aren’t tabulated until late in the night or in the days following an election. So if any of today’s races are close, we may be waiting on a winner for a while.

🎥 Tune in to the Kornacki Cam at 8:45 p.m. ET to watch Steve break down the results. Throughout the night, he will also answer questions from NBC News subscribers. Submit your questions here .

After his Supreme Court loss, Trump calls on Congress to pass a law banning birthright citizenship

By Allan Smith

President Donald Trump brushed off a major loss at the Supreme Court, whose 6-3 decision struck down one of his signature initiatives: an effort to limit birthright citizenship.

Trump and some of his congressional allies quickly said they weren’t fully giving up the fight, arguing that one path was to pass a law including the same provisions as his defeated order. But with the current makeup of Congress, that legislation would be dead on arrival.

“The Supreme Court upheld Birthright Citizenship, which is too bad for our Country, but we can easily make it up in Congress through Legislation, with the support of the President, that has now been determined during this process,” Trump posted on Truth Social . “No long and unwieldy Constitutional Amendment is necessary! Congress should start TODAY to work on ending expensive and unfair to our Country, Birthright Citizenship. They will have my Complete and Total Support!”

The case was near and dear to Trump. In April, he attended a Supreme Court hearing on the case, becoming the first sitting president to ever go to oral arguments.

Trump’s executive order, which lower courts quickly put on hold after he signed it the day he returned to office, would have limited birthright citizenship to those with at least one parent who is a U.S. citizen or permanent resident — meaning children born in the U.S. to temporary visitors, those on student visas or work permits, or undocumented immigrants wouldn’t be citizens at birth.

Five of the six justices who found the order unlawful said it ran afoul of the 14th Amendment, which states: “All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States.” The sixth justice, Brett Kavanaugh , who was nominated by Trump, said the order violated the law but not the Constitution.

With a majority ruling that the executive order ran afoul of the 14th Amendment, a constitutional amendment would most likely be necessary to achieve Trump’s goal.

“Recall for a constitutional amendment to be adopted: A proposed amendment must be passed by two-thirds of both houses of Congress, then ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths of the states,” Sen. John Cornyn , R-Texas, who previously was his state’s attorney general and a member of the Texas Supreme Court, posted on X .

📊 Related: New data from the NBC News poll finds that a slim majority (54%) of U.S. adults said being born in the U.S. is important to being “truly American,” while 45% say it isn’t important. Overall, respondents ranked several other traits as far more important to American identity.

The Supreme Court upheld state laws that ban transgender athletes from participating in girls’ and women’s sports.

The court also struck down longtime campaign finance rules challenged by Vice President JD Vance that limit how much a national political party committee can spend in coordination with individual candidates. (More on that below.)

And justices agreed to decide whether states and local governments can ban semiautomatic rifles like the AR-15.

For subscribers: What the Supreme Court’s campaign finance ruling means for the 2026 election

By Ben Kamisar

Today’s Supreme Court ruling changing certain federal campaign finance limits could make a big difference in the battle for control of Congress this fall, giving Republican candidates who have been getting outraised by opponents direct access to more party cash.

🗞️ Today's other top stories

That’s all From the Politics Desk for now. Today’s newsletter was compiled by Adam Wollner and Annelise Hanson.

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