Colorado mail in ballots have arrived for the June 30th election! Contestants for U.S. Senator are incumbent Republican Cory Gardner and Democrats Andrew Romanoff and John Hickenlooper.

If you register as an Independent you can vote for either party and the winner of the Democratic primary will face Mr. Gardner in November. Colorado is considered a “Purple State” with a mix of urban Democrats and rural Republicans in general. Democratic Senator Michael Bennet became U.S. Senator in 2010 and was reelected in 2016 for six more years. Here’s a short blog on our meeting in February 2020. So the November election could determine the balance of party power!

Former Colorado Governor Hickenlooper is considered center left and Mr. Romanoff served in the Colorado State Senate including as House Speaker representing the progressive wing.

According to News9, Cory Gardner declined a debate while the two Democrats traded jabs last week. The debate was anchored by Kyle Clark of News9.

Regarding Climate Change and the Green New Deal, Colorado Public Radio reports from the debate:

“Hickenlooper laid out a broad, optimistic statement: “We’ve got to go as quickly as we can and recognize that these innovations are going to create jobs.” Romanoff has aired apocalyptically themed ads about climate change and has called for much tighter restrictions on fossil fuels, including a ban on fracking. In the debate, he referred to “runway oil and gas development that John Hickenlooper presided over” as governor, and accused Hickenlooper of siding with Gardner against Green New Deal. In 2019, Hickenlooper wrote in an op-ed that he supported the “concept,” but said the government needed to work with private industry and cushion the financial impact.”

It would be great to see another debate focusing on Sustainability issues. From comparing the two candidate websites, Mr. Romanoff has more ambitious plans to deal with the Climate Crisis as compared to the general mainstream Democratic views offered by Mr. Hickenlooper.

Please Vote!!!

From the Colorado Secretary of State:

Important dates

• Week of June 8th - County clerks will begin mailing ballots for the Primary Election. If you haven't received your ballot by June 17th contact your county clerk's office for a replacement ballot.

• June 22nd - Last day to have a replacement ballot mailed to you.

• June 22nd to June 30th - Voter Service and Polling Center locations and drop boxes open around the state. Where do I drop off my ballot or vote?

• June 30th at 7:00 PM - Your county clerk must receive your ballot by 7:00 PM on Election Day - postmarks do not count. We recommend using a 24-hour drop box within your county to ensure your ballot is received on time.

Update 6/17/2020

Last night as reported by Colorado Public Radio, “Democratic U.S. Senate candidates John Hickenlooper and Andrew Romanoff squared off Tuesday night in a 90-minute debate sponsored by CPR News, Denver 7 and The Denver Post.”

Update 6/20/20

The Colorado Sun reports the debate results on various issues:

On climate change … 

The Green New Deal is a dividing line in the primary. Romanoff supports the plan to address climate change and economic inequality, calling it the heart of his campaign, but Hickenlooper finds it too ambitious for Congress and too difficult to implement. 

Romanoff made climate change a major focus in his campaign and his first video painted a bleak portrait about the impacts of climate change. “In many communities, the threat is here, real and now,” he said in a recent debate.

Hickenlooper has wavered on the Green New Deal, first suggesting he would embrace 99% of the proposal and then coming out against it. He called it socialistic. 

When it comes to the climate, he supports a 100% renewable energy economy and a future of net-zero emissions, but on a slower timeline than Romanoff has proposed. And he’s trying to convince voters that he has “the same fierce urgency that Andrew has” even though he has supported oil and gas development in the past.

The two candidates differ on whether to ban fracking but both oppose the extraction of oil and gas on public lands. While Romanoff supports prohibiting new fossil fuel extraction on public lands and offshore, Hickenlooper supports the curbing of future leases. He believes that pre-existing leases shouldn’t be broken, but says there shouldn’t be additional leases created for the cause.”