State Sen. Julie Gonzales should be ashamed of herself.

Doesn’t Gonzales understand that U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper is entitled to the Democratic nomination for Senate?

Doesn’t Gonzales know that, just like in 2020, Hickenlooper “needs his sleep” and cannot be bothered with some pesky, young state senator who actually knows why she is running?

And why doesn’t Gonzales just fold her campaign tent in the face of pressure bordering on coercion or bribery by operatives connected to Hickenlooper and the Colorado Democratic Party to get her out of the race?

You would think an incumbent U.S. senator who had previously been elected as mayor of Denver and governor of Colorado would have the political maturity and personal grace to welcome a challenger from within his own Democratic Party. But not Hickenlooper.

Instead, according to media reports, his lieutenants embarked on a crusade to shove Gonzales from the race by threatening her campaign consultants with being “blacklisted” from ever being hired again in the party.

They went from intimidation to veiled political bribery by suggesting the way would be cleared for her to run for mayor of Denver if she would withdraw from the senate race.

But nothing about Hickenlooper’s behavior should be a surprise.

After he left the governor’s office in 2018, there was immediate speculation he would challenge incumbent Republican U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner who had unseated U.S. Sen. Mark Udall in 2014. But he had nothing but disdain for the Senate and cavalierly proclaimed he would not be a good senator.

Then he gallivanted off to Iowa to run for the 2020 Democratic nomination for president. Meanwhile several Colorado Democrats announced for the Senate and proceeded to raise money and build campaigns while Hickenlooper’s presidential campaign quickly imploded.

The quirky beer pub owner shtick just didn’t sell with national Democrats.

Faced with permanently being out of public office after 16 years as mayor and governor, Hickenlooper suddenly found the Senate worthy of his presence. He limped home to Denver and proceeded to shove candidates out of the race including women and candidates of color who had been campaigning for months.

Hickenlooper largely refused to participate in candidate forums with those who remained the race saying, “I need my sleep.” The pandemic allowed him to largely campaign, and presumably nap, in his basement.

But the mediocrity of Hickenlooper and his campaign didn’t matter. President Donald Trump’s 14-point loss to Joe Biden in Colorado swamped Gardner who lost to Hickenlooper by nine points.

Meanwhile, Hickenlooper’s Senate sidekick and doppelganger, Michael Bennet, is inexplicably running for governor in 2026. And just like Hickenlooper in 2020, Bennet shoved U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse and Secretary of State Jena Griswold out of the governor’s race.

Neguse might have been the first Black governor of Colorado. Griswold might have been the first woman governor of Colorado. But Bennet is apparently bored with the Senate and his personal desires are paramount.

Colorado Democrats, and for that matter all Coloradans, are still waiting for Bennet to detail an agenda other than he hates Donald Trump. They are also waiting for Hickenlooper to announce just why he is running for another term during which he would turn eighty years old.

Gonzales is a Democratic Socialist whose extreme views are way out of the mainstream of Colorado voters — but at least she has an agenda and she demonstrates a youthful vitality that is lost on Hickenlooper.

Bennet’s primary opponent, Attorney General Phil Weiser, announces a lawsuit against the Trump Administration almost daily but at least he has immersed himself in Colorado-specific issues for the last eight years as AG and can articulate why he is running for governor. And true to form, Bennet is avoiding forums with Weiser.

The arrogance of Hickenlooper’s campaign in trying to intimidate or politically bribe Gonzales out of the race has exposed the inherent weakness of an incumbent senator who has barely been heard from since he was elected six years ago.

Colorado deserves so much better in the U.S. Senate and the governor’s office.

Dick Wadhams is a former Colorado Republican state chairman who managed campaigns for U.S. Sens. Hank Brown and Wayne Allard, and Gov. Bill Owens. He was campaign manager for U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota in 2004 when Thune unseated Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle.