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All 12 Democrats running for Cory Gardner’s Senate seat (GALLERY)

By 08/29/2019 | updated 6 years ago
Senate candidates

The race to unseat incumbent Republican Sen. Cory Gardner has become crowded, to say the least.

CLICK THROUGH THE PHOTOS ABOVE for a look at each challenger, arranged by date of announcement.

Senate candidates
(Colorado Politics, the Associated Press and courtesy photos)
Former Gov. John Hickenlooper announced he was running for Senate on Aug. 22, just one week after dropping out of the presidential race. He has been viewed as the front runner, largely due to polls conducted prior to his announcement that showed an advantage over Gardner. He has also been endorsed by presidential candidates Kamala Harris and Amy Klobuchar, as well as the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, the latter of which did not go over well with many of the female candidates currently in the Senate race.Hickenlooper has highlighted his accomplishments in business during his time as Colorado’s governor. He noted that he reduced regulations for business operations, and negotiated with oil and gas companies for them to check all drilling sites for methane and other emissions.President Trump gave his take the day of Hickenlooper’s announcement.”.@SenCoryGardner has done a fantastic job representing the people of Colorado,” Trump tweeted. “He really knows how to win. Strong on Crime, Borders & the 2nd A, Cory fights hard for our Military & Vets. John Hickenlooper is badly damaged after his horrible run for President. Big Primary trouble!”Hickenlooper has been questioned for joining the race after making critical comments about the Senate during his presidential bid.He told Colorado Politics the day of his announcement that he still believes Washington is a “lousy place if you’re the type of person that likes to get things done” but that he would rather become involved than sit on the sidelines.”I spent a lot of time thinking about it and decided this is no time to walk away; this is a time for action, for someone who has a history of bringing people together and getting things done, to invest themselves in turning Washington around,” he said. “I’ve won twice statewide in difficult years. I’m going to go out and try to earn the support of Colorado voters.”
(AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall, File)
Michelle Ferrigno Warren announced her campaign Aug. 1. Warren is the advocacy and strategic engagement director for the Christian Community Development Association, co-founder of Open Door Ministries and a consultant for the National Immigration Forum. She says she can be a “fresh voice” for Colorado.”I needed to stop being frustrated that there weren’t women running,” Warren said.She noted that she has lots of experience working with senators and representatives.”The reality is, with important issues like immigration, it’s going to take leaders who have built bridges, who have relationships with a lot of different types of people and are known for creating tables that people can come to because they know they are being respected,” she said.
(Courtesy photo)
State Sen. Angela Williams made her announcement July 8. She served three terms in the Colorado House of Representatives before entering the state Senate in 2016. Williams is also well known for sponsoring criminal-justice reform legislation, including a death penalty repeal and a law that compensates those wrongfully convicted.She compared Cory Gardner to Donald Trump, stating that Gardner divides Coloradans as Trump divides Americans.”Their days of standing up for special interests at the expense of working families in Colorado are over,” she said. “I’m eager to go to Washington to bridge the divide and tackle the toughest challenges facing our state and our nation.”
(Courtesy Angela Williams for U.S. Senate)
Alice Madden announced she was running for Senate on May 9. Madden worked in Colorado state government and in the Obama administration on clean energy issues after serving in the state House of Representatives until 2008.She told Colorado Politics that she believes she can “make things happen” in Washington, D.C.”My nickname at the Colorado legislature was ‘Geneva,'” Madden said with a laugh. “I was the person who could go in and talk to the crankiest member across the aisle, bring them to the same place.”Madden also thinks it would be good to have a woman represent Colorado in the Senate.”I think it’s time,” she said.
(Courtesy Alice Madden for Senate, via Facebook)
John Walsh made his announcement April 16. Walsh served for six years as Colorado’s chief federal law enforcement officer under President Barack Obama, during the state’s legalization of recreational marijuana.He is known for fining banks for “misconduct in the financial crisis,” including assessing a $7 billion penalty against Citibank in Colorado. Walsh says his “strong progressive” record will help him advocate for Coloradans.”Our state deserves better than what we’re getting from Donald Trump and Cory Gardner; we deserve representation that fights for the families of our state,” Walsh said.Walsh released a plan to combat gun violence and domestic terrorism earlier this month, calling white supremacists “the face of violent extremism” in Colorado.
(Ernest Luning/Colorado Politics)
Dan Baer made his announcement April 15. Baer worked for Gov. Hickenlooper directing the Colorado Department of Education. Prior to that, he served as an ambassador in Europe for the Organization for Security and Cooperation for the Obama administration. His work as an ambassador landed him an endorsement from Foreign Policy for America Action Network. Baer reported $1.35 million in campaign funds in July.Baer told 9News during his announcement that he can use his experience to take down Gardner.”It’s hard to tell where Cory Gardner ends and Donald Trump begins these days because Cory Gardner has been doing Donald Trump’s bidding for the last few years,” he said. “I think we should fire Cory Gardner, and I look forward to making that case.”Baer is the state’s first openly gay candidate for U.S. Senate, and was endorsed by the LGBTQ Victory Fund in July.
(Ernest Luning/Colorado Politics)
Diana Bray announced she will be running for Senate on April 2. Bray is a climate activist, and has centered her campaign around transitioning to zero-carbon emissions.”I am so tired of the oil and gas industry having a stranglehold over our health and safety,” Bray said in a campaign video. “We know we have a climate crisis that is also a humanitarian crisis. We have a crisis of democracy where big-money interests paralyze action.”
(Courtesy Diane Bray)
Stephany Spaulding made her announcement April 1. The college professor and American Baptist pastor is running on a platform of energy independence and protecting the rights of minority communities.”There are a number of candidates that feel for those who are under attack from this administration, but I am a candidate actually living the impact of dehumanizing policies and morally inept leadership,” she told Colorado Politics.This is Spaulding’s second shot at Congress after she unsuccessfully ran to unseat Republican Rep. Doug Lamborn last fall.
(Ernest Luning/Colorado Politics)
Andrew Romanoff announced his Senate bid Feb. 7. Romanoff served as speaker of the Colorado House of Representatives from 2005 to 2009, after which he became CEO of Mental Health Colorado, a decision he says was based on losing someone he knew to suicide. In May, Romanoff reported endorsements from more than 250 current and former elected officials, including a former congressman and dozens of state lawmakers.Romanoff worked with Cory Gardner in the state House, and stated he disagrees with the Senator on “just about every issue that’s at stake over the next two years,” noting Medicare and the Green New Deal in particular.”I ran for the state House – frankly, I became a Democrat – because I wanted to make sure that all of us, whether we have wealthy friends, political connections – whether we have all of the odds stacked in our favor or none at all – all of us have a seat at this table,” he said. “I think we can get from here to there.”
(Photo by Ernest Luning, Colorado Politics)
Mike Johnston made his announcement Jan 31. Johnston is a former state senator and gubernatorial candidate who ran against now Gov. Polis in 2018. Johnston set a state record by raising $1.8 million for his campaign between January and April, which grew to $3.4 million by July. He reported endorsements in April from former U.S. Sen. Gary Hart, former Denver Mayor Wellington Webb and other Colorado Democrats.Johnston is well known for his work in educational reform while he advised President Barack Obama. He worked as a public school teacher and principal, which he says influenced his recently-released plan to give every teacher in the country a $10,000 raise.”Colorado deserves a U.S. senator who will run to our hardest problems and show the leadership to pass real progressive policy,” Johnston said in a statement on his campaign website.
(Ernest Luning/Colorado Politics)
(Courtesy Trish Zornio)
Lorena Garcia made her announcement in November of 2018. Garcia is the executive director of Colorado Statewide Parent Coalition, and said she can use her diverse background to advocate for “economic equality for all.””It’s time for a new voice in the U.S. Senate,” Garcia said in a statement. “We are at a crossroads in our history where we can no longer accept the status quo and must take action to fix our broken government systems. I’m running because we need innovative leaders who will work on behalf of the interests of every Coloradan, not for political self-interest.”
(Photo courtesy of the campaign)
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