Colorado Senate race between Hickenlooper, Romanoff a choice between moderate, progressive

Coloradans voting in the June 30 Democratic primary will choose between former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper and former statehouse speaker Andrew Romanoff to challenge U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner in a highly anticipated general election.

Libertarian voters will also pick their U.S. Senate candidate for the general election. The candidates on the ballot are Gaylon Kent, a hotel night auditor embarking on his fifth congressional run, and Raymon Anthony Doane, a Colorado Department of Revenue analyst who previously ran for the U.S. House of Representatives and the Colorado Senate.

Hickenlooper served as governor of Colorado from 2011 and 2019 and was formerly mayor of Denver. He launched his Senate bid after failing to gain traction as a candidate in the crowded Democratic presidential race, during which he sought to set himself apart from other candidates with his moderate approach and warnings that Democrats will lose the presidential race if they "embrace socialism."

Romanoff, a former college government instructor, served on the Colorado House of Representatives from 2000 to 2008 and previously ran for U.S. Senate in 2010 and U.S. House of Representatives in 2014.

Romanoff and Hickenlooper had their first head-on debate June 9 on 9News, which came the week after Hickenlooper was held in contempt for failing to appear in the first day of a state ethics review board hearing. The independent board found he violated the state’s gift ban when he accepted a corporate jet flight from a political donor and a limousine ride from Fiat Chrysler Automobiles during his tenure as governor. The state gift ban bars officials from accepting lobbyist gifts or travel valued over a set amount. The cap was $59 when Hickenlooper was governor.

Colorado primary:Q&A with U.S. Senate candidate for Colorado Andrew Romanoff

Despite heavy press coverage of the ethics saga, politicos and pollsters still consider Hickenlooper the favorite for the Democratic nomination, judging by backing from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee and numerous polls pitting the former governor against Gardner without mention of Romanoff. His moderate reputation may also appeal to many unaffiliated voters, who will be able to cast ballots in a Colorado Senate primary for the first time this month.

“We tested Hickenlooper, as he is the overwhelming favorite to win the Democratic nomination,” Curtis Hubbard of OnSight Public Affairs told The Denver Post, speaking about a poll where Hickenlooper led Gardner 54% to 36% among likely voters in a sample of 600 Coloradans. Left-leaning polling firms conducted the poll.

Though Hickenlooper has name recognition and high expectations on his side, Romanoff has the enthusiastic support of the more progressive faction of Colorado’s Democratic Party. Romanoff has a more progressive platform than Hickenlooper’s, supporting proposals like Medicare for All and the Green New Deal in contrast to Hickenlooper’s more moderate vision.

He won 86% of votes in the state assembly after Hickenlooper opted against participating, going the signature route instead to qualify for the ballot. That was after Romanoff defeated Hickenlooper in the caucus preference polls held throughout the state on March 7, with 55% support to Hickenlooper’s 30%.

Colorado primary:Q&A with U.S. Senate candidate for Colorado John Hickenlooper

Hickenlooper has picked up many high-profile endorsements, including the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s Win Big Project, former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams and the Congressional Black Caucus Political Action Committee.

Romanoff’s endorsements include former U.S. Rep John Salazar, environmental organization 350 Colorado and a slate of state senators and representatives, including two of Fort Collins’ state legislators (Sen. Joan Ginal and Rep. Cathy Kipp). Endorsements closer to home include Larimer County Commissioner John Kefalas, Fort Collins City Council members Susan Gutowsky and Ross Cuniff and former Mayor pro-tem Gerry Horak.

Here's where Romanoff and Hickenlooper stand on several key issues, drawing on information from their online campaign platforms.

Health care

Romanoff:

“I support Medicare for All, including coverage for mental health and substance use treatment, prescription drugs, vision, dental, hearing, maternity, and long-term care. Such a system, as other countries have shown, saves money and saves lives. ….

"Instead of undermining Americans’ health care, we should find ways to improve it. I’ll work with health-care providers, consumers, and other stakeholders to encourage innovation and cooperation, reduce medical errors, improve the use of information technology, minimize administrative expenses, and make prices more transparent.”

Hickenlooper:

Calls the Affordable Care Act “a strong foundation on which to build” but says “we have a long way to go.”

“We must tackle the staggeringly high cost of prescription drugs by requiring drug companies to be more transparent about drug pricing, allowing Medicare to negotiate for lower prices, and ending the prohibition of the importation of safe drugs from Canada and Mexico. As a small businessman, I find it outrageous that Medicare is legally barred from negotiating the prices of prescription drugs, even though the VA and other countries around the world do exactly that. 

"We should also scale up Colorado’s best practices to curb the opioid epidemic by expanding naloxone access, researching alternative pain management therapies, and updating prescribing guidelines to reinvigorate federal efforts to address this crisis. And, in all sectors of our health-care system, we must accelerate our investment in innovation and cutting-edge research.”

Gun laws

Romanoff

Supports:

• Requiring background checks and waiting periods on all gun sales
• Strengthening the enforcement of existing gun laws, including the ban on straw purchases and bump stocks
• Equipping the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives with the resources it needs to carry out its proper mission
• Imposing an effective ban on the sale, transfer, manufacture, and importation of military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines
• Limiting bulk gun purchases
• Funding federal research on gun violence prevention
• Extending the prohibition on gun sales to abusive partners and those convicted of stalking offenses
• Ending legal immunity for the gun industry
• Promoting safe-storage requirements
• Funding local, evidence-based strategies to prevent gun violence

Hickenlooper

Supports:

• Background checks on all gun sales
• Magazine limits
• Assault weapons ban
• Funding community violence-intervention programs
• Stronger enforcement of gun trafficking laws
• Federal law requiring background checks for people who produce “ghost guns” by using 3D printers or ordering parts online
• Allowing “reckless gun manufacturers” to be named in lawsuits
• Creating national extreme risk order protection laws (similar to Colorado’s red flag law)

Education

Romanoff

"Schools aren’t factories, and students aren’t widgets. We’ll continue to lose effective teachers if we force them simply to teach to a test. The real task of improving student achievement can be time-consuming and difficult, but it’s worth it. Above all, it requires us to use evidence, rather than ideology, to determine what works."

He proposes to:

• Guarantee universal, high-quality preschool and full-day kindergarten, so that every child can start first grade ready to learn.
• Equip teachers with the time, training, resources and compensation they need to succeed, including opportunities to learn from master teachers and engage in professional development.
• Ensure that students receive the benefit of high-quality instruction and individualized attention from well-paid, certified teachers.
• Remove barriers that prevent students, especially students of color, from accessing a 21st-century education.

Hickenlooper

"As senator, I will work to ensure every student can benefit from the foundation for future success that education provides. 

"This includes closing the achievement gap by expanding literacy opportunities, promoting STEM learning for students of color, funding Head Start and full-day kindergarten, supporting the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), recruiting and retaining teachers of color, and so much more. We must also end the 'school-to-prison pipeline,' in which students — sometimes as young as three — are disciplined under 'zero tolerance policies' and suspended or expelled. Our public education system needs adequate funding to provide the type of enriching academic environment that is so vital to eliminate this practice.

"College affordability is another major hurdle for students. Expanded loan repayment and forgiveness programs, tuition-free community college, and investment in minority-serving scholarship programs such as TRIO and Gear Up are a big step in the right direction. For students who go to college but are unable to complete their degree, we must collect quality data on racial disparities in graduation rates as well as policy interventions that work best to address these gaps. Historically black colleges and universities and native, tribal and indigenous educational institutions do important work to address discrimination in education, and I am committed to making sure they have the funding they need to continue their vital missions."

How to vote in Colorado's June 30 primary election:Don't cast 2 ballots, find dropoff boxes

Environment

Romanoff

"America can and should lead the way by enacting a Green New Deal. That entails an ambitious set of national goals: cut in half the total greenhouse gas emissions from all sectors, including transportation, industry and buildings by 2030; replace fracked gas, coal, and other fossil fuels with enough clean energy to meet all of our electricity needs by 2035; and reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040.

"To get from here to there, we need to:

• Place a comprehensive and effective price on carbon to account for the immense costs to our environment and public health.
• End tax giveaways to fossil fuel companies.
• Strengthen energy efficiency and emissions standards in order to make all new homes, buildings and vehicles carbon-free.
• Accelerate the research, development, and implementation of clean-energy infrastructure and energy efficiency improvements.
• Prioritize our clean-energy transition in the frontline communities that suffer most from toxic pollutants.
• Complete land and water reclamation projects.
• Invest in workforce development and training, aiding workers displaced by the transition to a clean-energy economy.
• Prohibit new fossil fuel extraction on public lands and offshore.
• Ban all fracking and end the construction of new fossil fuel infrastructure.
• Upgrade the power grid to deliver energy more efficiently; to facilitate the use of more wind, solar and other renewable energy sources; and to withstand the damage inflicted by the climate crisis.
• Strengthen public health protections and the enforcement of air, land and water safeguards, including the monitoring and reporting of emissions and waste storage and disposal.
• Phase out fossil fuel use in federal operations.
• Expand our public transportation network to reduce congestion and pollution and improve safety and access."

Hickenlooper

“First and foremost, we are calling for a transition to a 100% renewable energy economy with net-zero emissions by 2050, with an interim goal of a 43% reduction below 2005 levels in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 — exactly where many of the world’s leading scientists tell us we need to go."

Hickenlooper’s proposals include:

• "Large-scale investment in government-funded climate technology research, development, and demonstration to accelerate innovation.
• Reinvent America’s transportation system, including electric-vehicle charging infrastructure and making America’s electric grid more intelligent, reliable, secure, efficient and resilient.
• Develop our workforce with laser-like focus on training young people and people transitioning out of the fossil fuel industry into green jobs.
• Create a new Climate Corps Program, challenging young people to pursue careers that help combat global climate change. Implement a carbon dividend plan, which experts agree is one critical component of the necessary market incentives to quickly and cost-effectively lower carbon emissions, while also promoting U.S. economic growth. Revenue generated from a price on carbon would be returned directly to American taxpayers as a dividend, more than offsetting any potential increase in energy costs.
• Ensure equity as we tackle climate change so that the vulnerable communities hardest hit by poor air quality, polluted water, toxic pollution, drought, rising sea levels, wildfires, and floods have a seat at the table in developing equitable climate strategies.
• Rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement and make updates to the agreement that inspire and embolden the global community to take decisive action.
• Ratify the Kigali Amendment, which requires countries to freeze and then phase out dangerous hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs).
• Require that greenhouse gas emissions goals to combat climate change are set and enforced as part of any new U.S. trade agreement, as part of a new policy of “open and fair trade.”

Police violence

Romanoff

"It’s not enough to say Black Lives Matter when, day after painful day, we act as if they don’t. Where do we go from here? We can start by recognizing the disproportionate impact police violence has taken on African Americans and implement meaningful reforms.

"Among other actions, I will push to:

• Ban chokeholds and strangleholds.
• Revamp police use-of-force and response protocols.
• Require police officers to intervene and stop other officers from using excessive force.
• Mandate body cameras and comprehensive reporting.
• Prevent the abuse of warrants. 
• Eliminate racial profiling.
• Pursue Department of Justice consent decrees, civil rights enforcement, and pattern-and-practice investigations of rogue agencies.
• Create a national database of police officer misconduct.
• End the use of qualified immunity or other legal doctrines that shield misconduct from prosecution.  
• Form independent and effective oversight bodies with the authority to hold officers accountable.
• Demilitarize police operations.
• Recruit, train and hire officers who reflect and respect the communities they serve.

Hickenlooper

"As mayor of Denver, police reform was one of our central priorities. Ten years before Ferguson, we initiated efforts to reduce lethal force in policing, requiring all officers to go through crisis de-escalation training. For the first time in the history of the Denver Police Department, we hired a minority recruiter and established the Office of Independent Monitor to investigate allegations of police misconduct.

"We created the Civilian Oversight Commission to give communities direct input on how their own neighborhoods are policed, and we made it easier to discipline officers who use excessive force. What we did wasn’t perfect and there is so much more work to be done, locally and nationally, but we listened to communities of color. We tried to gain a greater understanding of the challenges they face, and we worked together towards a common goal.

"All of this needs to be done on a much larger scale today as the use of deadly force against black and brown Americans by police continues to be an epidemic in our country. There are tangible steps Congress can and must take to stop the violence, including requiring body cameras for all police officers, swiftly disciplining officers who use excessive force, increasing transparency in policing data, and funding programs to heal the trauma of communities living in fear. As senator, I am committed to working with communities of color to address the fear and mistrust of law enforcement, to fiercely advocate for proper police training, and to increase accountability and oversight."

Economy

Romanoff

"Building an economy that works for all of us is one of America’s most urgent priorities. We need leaders in Washington who value our jobs — not simply their own.

"Corporate profits are rising, but they’re not lifting all boats," Romanoff contends. He would: 

• End tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas.
• Ensure that large corporations and the wealthiest Americans pay their fair share.
• Make post-secondary education, including vocational training and apprenticeship programs, available and affordable to every American.
• Raise the national minimum wage to keep pace with the cost of living.
• Ensure equal pay for equal work.
• Restore overtime pay and protect against wage theft.
• Sustain and strengthen the Earned Income Tax Credit.
• Increase the supply of affordable housing.
• Help families meet the demands of child care and medical hardship.
• Provide job training for dislocated workers.
• Defend the rights of workers to form labor unions and engage in collective bargaining.
• Repair and rebuild America’s roads, bridges and transit systems.
• Extend high-speed, broadband access to rural America and other underserved communities.
• Promote public-private partnerships to advance education, research, and development in science, technology, engineering and math.
• Prepare our information networks and energy grids to meet the demands of a growing population and global competition.
• Expand opportunities for vocational rehabilitation.
• Protect consumers from fraud and predatory practices.

Hickenlooper

"In addition to matching the needs of employers with the skills of the workforce, I will work hard to make sure no one is left behind in our economy. This means leveling the playing field by raising the minimum wage, closing the gender pay gap, offering tuition-free community college, growing minority-owned small businesses, and strengthening unions. Furthermore, we must invest in the most dynamic and value-generating sectors of our future economy. Expanding Internet access and helping workers transition to clean energy jobs will make it easier for Coloradans to earn a living wage and develop the skills needed for their families to succeed."

Editor's note: Gun reform organization Moms Demand Action named Romanoff a"gun sense candidate" but did not endorse him. An earlier version of this story did not note the distinction.

Jacy Marmaduke covers government accountability for the Coloradoan. Follow her on Twitter @jacymarmaduke. Support stories like this one by purchasing a digital subscription to the Coloradoan.​​​​​​​