Colorado’s Senate race has turned into a low-profile battle between a misstep-prone Democratic challenger and a Republican hoping to hang on to his seat by staying under the radar.
Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper mounted a Senate bid after a short-lived long-shot presidential campaign last year, persuaded by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to take on the vulnerable Republican incumbent.
Incumbent Republican Sen. Cory Gardner is seeking his second term representing the state in the Senate. While Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden is favored to win the state’s Electoral College votes, Republicans hoped that controversies surrounding Hickenlooper would stave off Democrats in the Senate race.
The incidents led to an unexpectedly tumultuous Democratic primary for Hickenlooper, who had been picked by Democratic insiders with the expectation that he would sail through the primary process and be a safe bet against Gardner.
In June, a Colorado ethics commission found that Hickenlooper violated state ethics laws when he accepted a private jet flight to an event in Connecticut and free perks at a 2018 conference in Italy.
Also in June, a video surfaced in 2014 of Hickenlooper that compared being an elected official to being on an “ancient slave ship,” with political staffs being like “the guy with the whip.” He apologized for the comments.
Hickenlooper stumbled again when he incorrectly said that George Floyd, the black man who died in Minneapolis after a police officer placed a knee on his neck, had been shot.
But now, the race is relatively quiet for a race that is rated as a toss-up by election analysts such as the Cook Political Report.
There’s little incentive for snafu-prone Hickenlooper from stepping into the spotlight when polls consistently show that he is leading in the horse race.
A poll conducted Aug. 30 to Sept. 5 showed Hickenlooper with 51% support to Gardner’s 46%. That 5-point lead for Hickenlooper is narrower than other recent polls.
One bright spot for Garder is his cash advantage. As of the end of July, Hickenlooper had $4.6 million in cash-on-hand compared to $10.7 million for Gardner.
The two candidates have agreed to a televised debate on Oct. 13.
