Which Democrat will challenge U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner? Four names sit on top of insiders' lists.

[RandySF]

State House Speaker Crisanta Duran

The 2018 election saw a historic number of women and people of color elected to Congress. And if Duran, who was Colorado’s first Latina speaker of the House, could capture some of that momentum, it could easily propel her candidacy forward. Duran has also been a forceful critic of President Donald Trump — especially on his immigration policies.

“Crisanta would be a formidable opponent for Gardner — she’s young and Latina, was extremely successful in the state Capitol, and represents a demographic he’s never been able to connect with,” said Micha Rosenoer, the executive director of Emerge Colorado, a political group that trains women to run for office.


Former state Sen. Mike Johnston

Johnston came in third in the Democratic gubernatorial primary. But his campaign, which focused intensely on unaffiliated voters and took him to all 64 counties, gives him statewide name recognition among the party’s base. The former Denver lawmaker is a native son of the Rocky Mountains, which lends him credibility with voters who live in the mountains and on the Western Slope.

“He’s the kind of candidate Republicans would prefer not to face,” said independent consultant Eric Sondermann. “His challenge is going to be the Democratic primary.”


U.S. Rep. Ed Perlmutter

Perlmutter, who represents the state’s 7th Congressional District, is among the state’s most popular Democratic leaders. And the Arvada lawmaker, known for his retail politics, likely would have a lock on Colorado’s most important swing county, Jefferson, which he has represented in Congress for more than a decade.


Gov. John Hickenlooper

Don’t be fooled by the trips to Iowa and New Hampshire, Democrats have been trying to convince themselves, Hickenlooper is going to challenge Gardner in 2020. The two-term centrist governor has the record, popularity and infrastructure to easily clear the primary field and take it straight to Gardner.

While the state’s politicos might have him pegged as the man for the job, does he want it?


https://www.denverpost.com/2018/11/14/cory-gardner-senate-re-election-democratic-challengers/

[Sucha NastyWoman]

1. Beto

Unfortunately, Texans are too dumb and he is wasted on us, so I think he should move to another state not as red as Texas and run for Senate.

How long do you have to live there before running for U S Senator.

[Lochloosa]

4. All States are different

[OnDoutside]

2. Hickenlooper seems the obvious choice ?

[Just a Weirdo]

6. No. Hes too beholden to oil and gas.

We have called him Governor Frackenlooper for years.

[OnDoutside]

9. Hahaha, very good !

[oasis]

3. Corey will dodge duty in Mitch McConell's press entourage for the next 2 years.

[shanny]

5. 3 & 4 don't work for me.

Perlmutter is one of the #fivewhiteguys opposing Pelosi from the right and I don't want a "centrist" senator from what is becoming / has become a blue state.

[Hortensis]

7. Have candidate-pushers addicted us to federal elections?

We should take the pledge, maybe even talk about what we'll be doing with the power we just gained. The blue wave is biggest at the state level. Coloradans just gave control of state government to Democrats for the first time since 1932. We gained over 300 seats in state legislatures, and broke Republican control of the governments of 4 states. Like other similarly happy states, in CO addressing important issues won't be waiting for 2020. Important things are going to be happening there and many other states.

Both directions: After Nov. 6, all state legislatures, excluding Minnesota, will be controlled by ONE party. Democrats control 18; Republicans control 31. Republicans tend to force their states farther right; here in Georgia, a first priority item is anti-LGBTQ oppression.

But for blue states: Voting rights, campaign finance reform, anyone? (Automatic voter registration is expected to become the norm in blue states.) Sustainable energy? Fresh water protections? Adequate funding of schools after, in some states, years of Republican starvation of public education? Even expanding public schooling to include full-day kindergarden and preschool? Medicare expansion and other healthcare issues? Minimum wage raise? Affordable or even free state college? Restoration of labor rights and benefits, like paid sick leave? Restoration of equality legislated away by Republicans?

VOX: Democratic wins in these 9 states will have seismic policy consequences

Democrats flipped seven governorships, six state legislative chambers, and more than 300 state House and Senate seats on election night. The party went a long way to regaining control at the state level after suffering devastating losses throughout the Barack Obama years.

In some states, the consequences are obvious. Maine elected Democrat Janet Mills as its next governor and put Democrats in complete control of the Maine Legislature, which should bring a rapid end to a year-long fight over Medicaid expansion in the state. Tens of thousands of low-income Mainers should soon get health insurance, now that Republican Gov. Paul LePage’s obstruction of a voter-approved ballot referendum is coming to an end, and 70,000 people will gain health insurance.

Democrats even made some important gains in states where they didn’t win legislative control. In Pennsylvania, for example, they merely broke the GOP supermajority in the Senate. After Pennsylvania Republicans last year considered impeaching the state judges who ruled that the state’s congressional maps should be redrawn — which would have required a supermajority in the Senate — that is still a notable achievement for Democrats. Gretchen Whitmer will have to contend with a GOP legislature as Michigan governor, but she still broke full Republican control over the state.

The biggest changes will come in states where Democrats won legislative chambers and the governor’s office. Democrats secured trifectas — control of the governor’s mansion and both state legislative chambers — in Maine, Connecticut, Colorado, Illinois, Nevada, New Mexico, and New York on election night. They will now have total control of 13 states, versus 21 states under full Republican control. ...

Some Democratic priorities are likely to cross state lines: strengthening voting rights, reforming the process for drawing their state’s congressional and state legislative maps, countering the Trump administration on health care and the environment, and more.

But state governments have a strong influence on the core issues — health care, taxes, immigration, climate change — that dominate the national discourse too. This is how the big Democratic wins could change things.

Btw, the blue wave is of course a rainbow wave also, in spite of widespread post-2016 attempts at persecution and repression. Before the midterms 7 states had never elected an openly LGBT legislator, but now voters in IN, KS and NE have.

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/11/9/18075536/midterm-elections-2018-results-governors-state-legislatures-agenda

[NewJeffCT]

8. Seems like Democrats have several good choices

to challenge Gardner. I'd also look for Gardner to take the place of Flake and Corker as one that will (on occasion) clutch his pearls and go "tsk tsk" at Trump and give hopes that he will go against Trump, but will eventually toe the party line.