Colorado Politics

Hickenlooper hits airwaves with 1st TV ad in Colorado’s Democratic US Senate primary

U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper launched his reelection campaign’s first TV ad Tuesday, a week before Colorado voters start receiving primary ballots, with a spot taking aim at the Trump administration’s foiled plans to sell public lands.

Hickenlooper is facing a primary challenge from state Sen. Julie Gonzales, a Denver Democrat running at the incumbent from the left. The winner of the June 30 primary will face Republican state Sen. Mark Baisley in November.

The 30-second ad, part of a seven-figure statewide broadcast, cable and digital buy, links the public lands sale Hickenlooper helped block last year with President Donald Trump’s pardons and the hundreds of millions of dollars in donations raised to build a lavish ballroom where the White House’s East Wing once stood.

“In the Trump administration, everything is for sale,” Hickenlooper says in the ad. “Pardons for drug traffickers, medicaid fraudsters, and crypto money-launderers. And Trump’s new ballroom backed by billionaires? He’s already collected $400 million for that.”

Adds Hickenlooper: “When Donald Trump was going to sell off our public lands to the highest bidder, I said ‘no way.’ I got Western senators together and we stopped him.”

The ad glances at a common Democratic campaign theme in this year’s midterms, contrasting the Republican administration’s record on the economy with what his critics describe as the president’s focus on enriching himself and wealthy supporters.

“Trump’s corruption is as widespread as his broken promises,” Hickenlooper said in a statement. “Last summer, we defeated his mind-boggling idea to auction our public lands to help pay for his extravagant tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy. We refuse to let Trump rig the economy and the law while families struggle with Trump’s cost-of-living emergency.”

Gonzales has attacked Hickenlooper’s record, accusing her primary rival of mounting an insufficient opposition to the Trump administration.

Hickenlooper’s new ad follows a set of all-digital ads that began running two weeks earlier, recounting the brewpub founder’s tenure as Denver mayor and a two-term governor.

The ad is set to air in the Denver TV market, which covers most of the state, with a planned expansion into the Colorado Springs market next week, a campaign spokesman told Colorado Politics. Neither Gonzales nor Baisley have yet placed significant ad reservations.

Heading into the primary, Hickenlooper held a wide financial advantage over his primary challenger and their general election opponent. Hickenlooper reported more than $4 million on hand at the end of March, compared to Gonzales’ roughly $114,000 and just $6,000 reported by Baisley.

Primary ballots start going out to most Colorado voters on June 8 and are due back on June 30.


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