To: Interested Parties
From: M.E. Smith, Hickenlooper for Colorado Campaign Manager
Date: July 1, 2020
Re: One Step Closer to Defeating Cory Gardner, Flipping the Senate & Changing Washington
With John Hickenlooper’s decisive victory last night, Colorado is one step closer to defeating a rubber stamp for President Trump and bringing change to a broken Washington. Republicans know that Senator Cory Gardner’s record of saying one thing in Colorado and doing another in Washington is indefensible, which is why they’ve already spent nearly $3 million on misleading negative ads against John and launched a new attack today.
As the result last night showed, these attacks won’t work. In record-breaking turnout for a non-presidential primary, voters statewide rejected Republican attacks by voting for John by wide margins, and he won 63 of Colorado’s 64 counties.
Coloradans are ready to elect John because they know him and trust that he will be an independent voice for Colorado who can change Washington and bring people together to get things done.
Gardner Says One Thing In Colorado, Does Another In Washington
Senator Gardner is the most vulnerable Republican incumbent in the country because he’s broken his promise to put Colorado first and stand up to his party when it’s wrong:
- On COVID-19 Pandemic – Gardner claimed to lead, but in Washington he was silent as Trump ignored warnings and failed to prepare. Gardner and Trump were criticized for “playing political games with lives” with life-saving medical equipment and Gardner voted for a corporate slush fund that shortchanged hospitals. Despite rising unemployment, Gardner refuses to support extending the enhanced unemployment benefits set to expire on July 31st.
- On Health Care – Gardner has made all sorts of claims about Coloradans’ health care, but in Washington, he has voted 13 times to repeal or undermine the Affordable Care Act, threatening to gut coverage for the 2.4 million Coloradans with pre-existing conditions, and he has enabled the Republican lawsuit that would erase those protections and end the bipartisan Medicaid expansion that Hickenlooper implemented in Colorado. Gardner also backed the expansion of “junk” insurance plans that can deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions — even as a new report revealed those policies have forced patients to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for lifesaving treatment.
- On Public Lands – Gardner has posed for photos next to mountains and said he respects Colorado’s outdoor way of life, but in Washington he refuses to support the bipartisan Colorado Outdoor Recreation and Economy (CORE) Act and has instead made a “desperate attempt” to hide his anti-conservation record, including enabling Trump’s rollback of protected public lands and previously voting to slash funding to the Land and Water Conservation Fund.
- On Peterson AFB – Gardner has said he’s delivered for Colorado, but in Washington he voted to allow Trump to raid $8 million from Peterson Air Force Base — which led to the Denver Post editorial board writing that “Gardner failed to protect Colorado from cuts in addition to failing the U.S. Constitution.”
- On DREAMers – Gardner has said he wants immigration reform, but in Washington he has voted to gut the DACA program and leave thousands of DREAMers vulnerable to deportation. Gardner refused to speak out against Trump’s latest attacks against the DACA program when the president said he would move again to end the program after losing his fight in the Supreme Court.
The Denver Post editorial board put it best when they revoked their 2014 endorsement last year: “He has become precisely what we said in our endorsement he would not be: ‘a political time-server interested only in professional security.’”
Hickenlooper Puts Colorado First, Will Bring Change to Washington
John’s impressive record of accomplishments — bringing Colorado from 40th in the nation in job creation to the number one economy in the country, expanding health care coverage to half a million Coloradans, implementing progressive policy on gun safety, climate change, and voting rights — has fueled the broad support for his Senate campaign.
John will continue to earn every vote by focusing on how he’ll bring change to a broken Washington. He has already unveiled forward-thinking policy proposals to reform the nation’s campaign finance system and expand voting rights; to end inequities in health care, housing, our economy and justice systems; to keep our communities safe from gun violence; and to help small businesses struggling in the wake of this pandemic.
While Senator Gardner has spent much of his time in the Senate hiding from the press and avoiding his constituents, John will continue to speak directly to voters across the state.
Gardner Underwater, Already Trailing By A Larger Margin Than Any Toss-Up Incumbent
Mitch McConnell and Republican special interests will pour millions into protecting this Senate seat to rescue Senator Gardner — but that spending can’t dig them out of this hole:
- Every public poll of this race has shown John leading Senator Gardner, who is trailing by a larger margin than any other Republican incumbent in a Toss-Up race.
- Senator Gardner’s job approval is underwater, with a May survey finding his approval at just 37% — even lower than Trump’s approval in Colorado.
- John has a more than 2-to-1 advantage with unaffiliated voters in a recent poll, leading Gardner 58% to 28%. In 2010 and 2014, historically tough years for Democrats, John was still able to attract critical support from unaffiliated voters across the state.
- Six years ago, Republicans held an active voter registration advantage in Colorado of more than 50,000 — but now they’re looking at a deficit of more than 80,000.
- In 2018, the Republican candidate for governor got 100,000 more raw votes than Gardner did in 2014 — but still lost by more than 10 points. Senator Gardner is facing a wildly different election cycle from 2014, when he won by a slim 1.9% in a wave year for Republicans. When John and Gardner were on the same ballot in 2014, John earned more votes than Gardner did.
- While we expect to be outspent by Senator Gardner and his dark money allies, John is building a consistent fundraising advantage fueled by enthusiastic small-dollar grassroots support: our campaign has repeatedly outraised Gardner in Q4, in Q1, and again in the pre-primary period. John raised nearly $3.7 million in the pre-primary period, outraising Gardner by about $1.6 million and setting a new Colorado record.
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