After four rounds of debates, the consensus is clear: John Hickenlooper is the clear winner. From health care to climate change and standing up to President Trump to working across the aisle, John took Senator Gardner to task and showed time and again he is the best candidate for Colorado.
Don’t believe us? Just read what they’re saying:
9News Debate – 10/13/20
“Gardner needed a jolt to knock the race off the course it’s effectively been on all year if he hopes to close what appears to be a persistent gap of about 10 percentage points, according to polling. He didn’t get it.” – Colorado Politics
“Just because [Gardner] says he represents Colorado, it doesn’t mean that most of what he’s done is representative of what Colorado residents want. Colorado never wanted this and certainly not now.” – Dave Perry, Colorado Sentinel
“But by leaving no daylight between himself and Trump, Gardner risks repelling Colorado’s vast swath of unaffiliated voters, who account for 40% of the state’s electorate — and that’s what polling has consistently shown is happening.” – Colorado Politics
“At the same time, his challenger, Hickenlooper, emphasizes a need for change in Washington, D.C., and ties Gardner as much as possible to President Trump, who is not expected to win in Colorado this November.” – Colorado Public Radio
“When Gardner touted his legislation to fund land and water conservation programs, Hickenlooper came ready with a retort: ‘Just because you have one environmental bill doesn’t make you an environmentalist,’ he said.” – Colorado Sun
“Republican Sen. Cory Gardner on Tuesday defended his record, alliance with President Donald Trump and the president’s morality in the final debate of the heated Colorado Senate race.” – Associated Press
“In his successful 2014 bid, Gardner proclaimed that ‘when my party’s wrong, I’ll say it.’ But his repeated silence on Trump’s controversial actions and statements led to a question of whether he broke the promise or agreed with the president.” – Colorado Sun
“Unfortunately for Gardner, the impression that could outlast most memories of Tuesday’s debate could be the simple ‘yes’ he offered when asked during a round of yes-no questions if he considers President Donald Trump to be a moral and ethical person.” – Colorado Politics
Denver7, Denver Post & Colorado Public Radio Debate – 10/9/20
“Hickenlooper attacked Gardner for being tied to President Donald Trump’s response to the coronavirus crisis, saying the senator is part of a ‘status quo that doesn’t get things done.’” – Colorado Sun
“But the toughest moment of the debate came when Gardner was asked why he switched from opposing President Donald Trump in 2016 to supporting his reelection now.” – Associated Press
“For his part, Hickenlooper rebuffed that characterization and called out Gardner for his ties to President Donald Trump. He noted Gardner has voted for 210 of the president’s 214 judicial nominees and supports confirming judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court. He also said Gardner should be doing more to counter the president’s attacks on all-mail voting states.” – Colorado Public Radio
“The Great American Outdoors Act’s main accomplishment, however, was restoring money Trump had sought to cut from parks and public lands to begin with.” – Colorado Politics
“Gardner declined to directly answer whether he is proud of his support of the president nor a question about whether he thinks Coloradans support his overwhelming allegiance to the president on policy and nominations.” – Colorado Sun
“Gardner also declined to provide details on a specific health care plan to replace the Affordable Care Act should it be unwound by the U.S. Supreme Court when it goes before the panel later this year. Finally, Gardner did not provide a clear answer on why he reversed himself after saying in 2016, following the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, that the Senate should put off confirming judges when a presidential election was so near. Gardner now supports the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to fill the seat of the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg.” – Colorado Sun
Telemundo Debate – 10/6/20
“Realmente, en este estado, hemos visto mucho liderazgo del candidato Hickenlooper, el gobernador. Ha hecho mucho en lo que es el acceso a la educación, quebrar la relación entre la inmigración y la policía, y también por las licencias. Y vemos que Cory Gardner solo ha hablado de apoyar a los DREAMers, y nunca ha actualizado leyes para ayudar al inmigrante”. – Víctor Galvan
[Translation: “Actually, in this state, we’ve seen a lot of leadership from candidate Hickenlooper. He’s done a lot as far as access to education, mending the relationship between immigrants and the police, and also with [driver’s] licenses. And we see that Cory Gardner has only talked about supporting the DREAMers, but he’s never acted on laws to help immigrants.”]
“Pues hemos visto desde 2017 el Senador [Gardner] no ha podido llegar a aprobar la legislación del Dream and Promise Act — ni en 2019 tampoco — entonces para mi, habiendo visto el Gobernador [Hickenlooper] que ha aprobado varias diferentes leyes bipartidistas pro-inmigrantes, me parece que el tiene más probabilidad de poder pasar una ley pro-inmigrante en el nivel nacional”. – Cristian Solano
[Translation: “Well, we’ve seen since 2017 that the Senator has not been able to pass the Dream and Promise Act – nor in 2019 either – so for me, having seen the Governor [Hickenlooper] who has passed several bipartisan pro-immigrant laws, I think that he is more likely to be able to pass a pro-immigrant law at the national level”.]
“And Hickenlooper kept returning to health care, Democrats’ favorite subject. He slammed Trump for mishandling the coronavirus outbreak and argued Gardner wanted to overturn the Affordable Care Act.” – Associated Press
“Hickenlooper pointed to his record as governor expanding health insurance to an additional 500,000 Coloradans, bringing coverage to almost 95% of state residents. The Democrat contrasted that to more than a dozen times Gardner voted to weaken or repeal the Affordable Care Act and his support for a lawsuit that could end protection for people with preexisting conditions.” – Colorado Politics
Pueblo Chieftain Debate – 10/2/20
“Hickenlooper laid out his reasoning for why, in his view, Gardner is the one who has failed to put the state first, calling the senator ‘slick and polished.’” – Colorado Public Radio
“Gardner won in 2014 by holding himself out as sorely needed new blood and tying the Democratic incumbent at the time, Sen. Mark Udall, to President Barack Obama. Hickenlooper turned the tables Friday night, saying Gardner supported Trump ‘100% of the time’ and had been in Washington too long.” – Associated Press
“The senator touted a bill he recently introduced requiring insurance companies to cover preexisting conditions, and several times urged Hickenlooper to read it. His opponent dismissed the legislation as a meaningless gesture. ‘The problem is that Cory Gardner is not just lying to all of you watching this debate. He’s lying to 2.4 million Coloradans. That bill has 117 words in it. It does nothing to say that insurance companies have to take people with preexisting conditions,’ Hickenlooper said. ‘It’s almost like Swiss cheese.’” – Colorado Public Radio
“Hickenlooper said too many people in Washington, D.C., spend their time pointing fingers at each other and not getting things done. He said when he was the Denver mayor, he worked with other metro municipalities to cut per capita water consumption by 20 percent.” – Colorado Public Radio
