A pair of progressive national groups that advocate for abortion rights and fighting climate change have endorsed U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper’s bid for reelection, with both calling the Colorado Democrat a proven fighter for their causes.

Planned Parenthood Action Fund said in its endorsement statement that Hickenlooper has stood by the organization’s agenda in the Senate and before that, in his two terms as governor.

“Sen. Hickenlooper knows the federal government has no business making personal health decisions for us,” said Alexis McGill Johnson, Planned Parenthood Action Fund’s president and CEO.

“As governor, he helped expand Coloradans’ access to reproductive health care, including by investing in clinics in rural and underserved areas,” she added. “In the Senate, he’s fighting back against Republicans’ attempts to establish a backdoor abortion ban by permanently ‘defunding’ Planned Parenthood.”

Citing Hickenlooper’s background as a scientist — he’s a geologist — and record on public lands and climate issues, a spokesman for National Resources Defense Council Action Fund said the conservation group supports the Democrat’s campaign for a second term.

“We need fighters like John Hickenlooper now more than ever,” said NRDC Action Fund managing director Jed Ober, in a statement. “He has worked tirelessly in the Senate to address climate change, reduce pollution, and protect our environment. We need to reelect John Hickenlooper to the U.S. Senate because he is fighting attacks on our public lands, rollbacks of clean air and water safeguards, and attacks on science itself.”

Hickenlooper welcomed both endorsements.

“We won’t let extreme MAGA Republicans pull us backwards,” he said in a statement in response to the Planned Parenthood Action Fund backing. “We need to overturn the Dobbs decision, protect abortion access, and keep mifepristone safe and accessible.”

In a separate statement, Hickenlooper said the conservation group’s support will help “mobilize millions of voters, take back Congress, and stop these devastating attacks,” referring to the energy and public lands policies pushed by the Trump administration and congressional Republicans.

Both groups endorsed Hickenlooper’s 2020 run, when he went on to unseat Republican U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner.

The new endorsements add to a string of support the former governor and Denver mayor has received from leading progressive organizations, including gun-control advocates Brady PAC and GIFFORDS PAC; election reform groups End Citizens United and Let America Vote; environmental groups League of Conservation Voters Action Fund and Conservation Colorado; and 314 Action, a Democratic-aligned group that works to elect candidates with scientific backgrounds.

Hickenlooper’s campaign manager, Justin Lamorte, told Colorado Politics in a statement that the stream of endorsements demonstrates that his boss is delivering for the state.

“Whether it’s defending our democracy from Trump’s corruption and corporate interests, blocking Republicans’ plans to sell off Colorado’s public lands, reigning in ICE and opposing cruel mass deportations, or fighting to make health care affordable and accessible for every Coloradan, Hickenlooper is meeting this moment with urgency,” Lamorte said. “He is building a strong coalition to defeat MAGA and keep Colorado blue.”

A spokesman for one of the Democrats challenging Hickenlooper in this year’s primary, state Sen. Julie Gonzales, D-Denver, said the latest round of endorsements highlight the difference between the two candidates.

“Sen. Gonzales has been endorsed by elected officials and community leaders from across Colorado because she has delivered real results by passing bills like the Reproductive Health Equity Act, which protects access to abortion and reproductive healthcare, and the Colorado Voting Rights Act, which protects our fundamental right to vote,” Spencer Carnes, Gonzales’ campaign manger, said in a text message. “While our campaign builds power with thousands of people on the ground here in Colorado, Sen. Hickenlooper once again is relying on the DC establishment to come to his rescue.”

Other Democrats running against Hickenlooper include Karen Breslin, Brashad Hasley and A.J. Zimpfer.

Republicans seeking the nomination to face Hickenlooper in November include state Sen. Mark Baisley, R-Woodland Park, former state Rep. Janak Joshi, R-Colorado Springs, Montrose County Commissioner Sean Pond and first-time candidates George Markert, a retired Marine colonel, and Dathan Jones.

The U.S. Senate seat is rated as “solid Democrat” by national election forecasters, who note that a Republican hasn’t won a statewide election in Colorado since 2016.

Both major parties begin designating candidates to the June 30 primary in early March, when precinct caucuses kick off a nominating process that culminates in the Democrats’ and Republicans’ state assemblies, where it takes the support of at least 30% of delegates to qualify for the ballot. Candidates can also gather a sufficient number of signatures to make the ballot by petition. The deadline to submit petitions is March 18.