Incumbent John Hickenlooper on Tuesday fended off a primary challenge from a progressive state lawmaker to win the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate.
The Associated Press called the race for Hickenlooper at 7:36 p.m. Tuesday, when he was leading state Sen. Julie Gonzales by nearly 15 percentage points.
Hickenlooper is expected to face Republican state Sen. Mark Baisley in the general election. Baisley was unopposed for the Republican nomination.
“You know, a couple of those polls made it look a little bit challenging there for a while, but I never lost faith in all of you,” Hickenlooper told supporters assembled at his watch party Tuesday evening in Denver.
In a statement posted to her Instagram account, Gonzales said she will continue fighting for “an economy that works for us, a democracy that includes us, and a future that belongs to us.”
“My heart is full, knowing that we’ve put the Democratic establishment on notice: keep taking folks like us for granted at your own peril,” Gonzales wrote. “That has never been more true, despite tonight’s outcome.”
Hickenlooper, 74, is finishing up his first term in the U.S. Senate, after he ousted Republican Sen. Cory Gardner in the 2020 election. Hickenlooper previously served two terms as governor of Colorado and a little less than eight years as the mayor of Denver. Prior to that, he was a geologist in the oil and gas industry and a bar and restaurant owner.
Gonzales, 43, has been a state senator since 2019. Before that, she worked as a community organizer and at an immigration law firm.
Her challenge to Hickenlooper was among a wave this year of younger, progressive candidates taking on more established Democratic politicians. The new candidates tapped into anti-incumbent sentiment among Democratic voters that focused on the ambition of the party’s ideas and the strength of its fight against President Donald Trump and his allies.
But Gonzales’ campaign never really built momentum. She struggled to fundraise – her campaign brought in $869,000 through June 10, compared with the $10 million Hickenlooper has raised so far this cycle – and reach voters across the state as a result.
Hickenlooper laid low throughout the campaign, refusing to appear at forums and debates with Gonzales, instead riding voters’ familiarity with him through the primary race.
Hickenlooper has often positioned himself as a bipartisan dealmaker, talking about his friendship with Republican politicians and the work it takes to quietly win their support against Trump’s wishes.
“They’re in a tough spot,” Hickenlooper said of his Republican colleagues in May as he visited Denver Health to hear about how Republican-backed policies would impact healthcare. “They’re being threatened with these frontal assaults and attack ads in their reelections if they don’t support the president 100%. And yet, many of them realize these are people’s lives.”
Gonzales, who called herself an “insurgent progressive” when launching her campaign, criticized Hickenlooper as too timid in his approach and too willing to sign off on Trump appointees to important positions in government.
“Go-along-to-get-along, poll-tested incrementalist politics have not made Coloradans’ lives better,” Gonzales said in an interview with The Colorado Sun ahead of her campaign launch. “Those politics have not delivered affordability, accountability or just, like, everyday, concrete policy change for Coloradans.”
After his win Tuesday, Hickenlooper pushed back at that characterization – and at the dismissal of bipartisan collaboration. He specifically mentioned a bill he has introduced that would increase transparency in healthcare pricing with the goal of reducing healthcare costs and making coverage more affordable. The bill has attracted bipartisan support, including, he said, from both Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy and progressive Sen. Bernie Sanders.
“Is that go-along-to-get-along, or is it building relationships with Republicans and Democrats and activists and saying, ‘How do we get to universal coverage?’” Hickenlooper said. “Because that’s the issue, right? We all agree that we want universal coverage.”
On the issues, the two candidates shared much in common. Both said they support dismantling U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, raising the minimum wage and capping prescription drug prices.
Gonzales, though, said she supports a Medicare for All single-payer health care system, while Hickenlooper favored more modest reforms like a public health insurance option that competes in the market with private plans.
Gonzales said she supports a ban on fracking for oil and gas, while Hickenlooper said, “I don’t think it’s the solution. I think the solution we need is more wind and solar.”
At polling places on Tuesday, the anti-incumbent sentiment and support for more progressive candidates that fueled Gonzales’ campaign was evident.
“I kind of feel like we need to swing the other way to sort of balance out the extremes that are going on in the federal government,” Leslie Stollman, of Fort Collins, said after casting her vote for Gonzales. “I don’t believe that fighting for people that need help and are less fortunate is going to turn us into a socialist country.”
But, at Hickenlooper’s party, the support from the broader Democratic Party shined through, with a bevy of former elected officials and party leaders in attendance.
“If there’s a marquee brand that typifies John Hickenlooper,” former U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar told the crowd, “it’s about bringing people together and solving problems.”
Hickenlooper, in his victory speech, downplayed suggestions of a divided Democratic Party heading into this fall’s general election.
“I know there’s a lot of questions out there about, well, what about this demographic feels this way, this demographic feels that way,” Hickenlooper said. “Let me tell everybody that Democrats are united. We’re going to take back the U.S. Senate, we’re going to take back the House, and then we’re going to stop President Trump in his tracks.”
Afterward, Hickenlooper acknowledged the restless mood among voters.
“I think people are really unhappy and angry,” he said. “I’ve never seen the state so angry like that. They’re mostly angry at (President Donald) Trump more than anybody.”
Hickenlooper cited frustration over the rising cost of living due to Trump’s tariff policies and the war with Iran, which sent fuel and fertilizer prices higher.
“We’ve got to address the anger, the anger of people who can’t balance the budget at the end of the month,” he said later. “They’re pissed at Republicans. They’re pissed at Democrats. There’s a real anti-incumbent streak going on, which I don’t blame them. Look at what’s happened to their budgets.”
Jesse Paul of The Colorado Sun and Kyle McKinnon of KUNC contributed to this report.
