New York Times: John Hickenlooper Scandal Complicates Democrat Push for Senate Majority

The New York Times reported on Saturday that former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper’s (D) ethics scandal has complicated Democrat’s strategy for retaking the Senate majority.

The Times wrote:

For months, Democrats have figured that Colorado’s U.S. Senate race, a linchpin of their strategy to take back the majority in November, was essentially in the bag, with the Republican incumbent Cory Gardner trailing by double digits behind their candidate John Hickenlooper, the well-liked and well-known former two-term governor and Denver mayor.

The Times said that Hickenlooper was “coaxed” into running for Sen. Cory Gardner’s (D-CO) seat after ending his failed presidential bid. Now, the former Democrat governor faces an increasingly competitive Senate primary against former Colorado state House speaker Andrew Romanoff, who has run to Hickenlooper’s left. Romanoff has backed Medicare for All and the Green New Deal.

The Colorado Independent Ethics Commission recently slapped Hickenlooper with the highest ethics penalty for his use of a corporate jet and Maserati limo.

Experts and pundits have contended that Hickenlooper’s scandal has tarnished his Senate campaign.

Kyle Saunders, a political science professor at Colorado State University, said that Hickenlooper’s most substantial misstep was receiving a contempt violation after defying a subpoena to appear before the ethics commission.

Democrats reportedly worry that Hickenlooper’s scandal weakens the former governor’s position after the primary and boosts Gardner’s reelection bid.

Dick Wadhams, a former state GOP chairman, said Hickenlooper is “limping out of this primary and now has a vulnerability that didn’t exist several weeks ago.”

The National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) recently aired an ad attacking Hickenlooper.

Kevin McLaughlin, the executive director of the NRSC, said, “We did it because of how badly Hick was mishandling the ethics hearing. He and his team were bumbling idiots, and we felt like we couldn’t let the opportunity pass.”