I was talking with Rep. Kevin McCarthy recently about Republican chances in 2020. Naturally, he hopes to regain the House majority and wrest the speaker’s gavel from Nancy Pelosi’s claws. But he also seems optimistic about the Senate. Focusing in particular on a crucial race in Colorado, McCarthy told me, “I still have a lot of belief in Cory.”

Let’s hope his belief turns out to be justified, for Sen. Cory Gardner is in the toughest race of his career, as Nic Rowan writes in our cover story, “Fighting on Two Fronts.”