John Hickenlooper won the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate on Tuesday after defeating Julie Gonzales. The called the race at 7:36 p.m. Tuesday, with Hickenlooper leading by nearly 15 percentage points.
That result leaves Hickenlooper, 74, on track for the general election against Mark Baisley, who was unopposed for the Republican nomination. Hickenlooper is finishing his first term in the U.S. Senate after ousting Cory Gardner in the 2020 election.
John Hickenlooper and Julie Gonzales
Hickenlooper told supporters at his watch party Tuesday evening in Denver, "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," after the race call. Gonzales, 43, had launched her challenge as an "insurgent progressive" and had served in the state senate since 2019.
Her campaign brought in $869,000 through June 10, while Hickenlooper had raised $10 million so far this cycle. He also refused to appear at forums and debates with her during the campaign.
Democratic Senate policy overlap
The contest did not turn on a clean ideological split. Both Hickenlooper and Gonzales said they support dismantling Immigration and Customs Enforcement, raising the minimum wage and capping prescription drug prices.
Gonzales backed a Medicare for All single-payer health care system, while Hickenlooper favored a public health insurance option that competes in the market. Gonzales also argued in an interview with The Colorado Sun that "Go-along-to-get-along, poll-tested incrementalist politics have not made Coloradans’ lives better," and that "Those politics have not delivered affordability, accountability or just, like, everyday, concrete policy change for Coloradans."
Mark Baisley in the
Hickenlooper now moves into the general election as the Democratic nominee, facing a Republican opponent who did not have a primary challenge. The race gives him a second statewide contest after the 2020 election, when he unseated Gardner, and it puts the general election on a straight two-candidate track from here.
The practical takeaway for voters is simple: the Democratic primary is settled, and the remaining question is how Hickenlooper and Baisley will define the general election once the fall campaign begins in earnest.
