Hickenlooper Stumbles Across the Finish Line
John Hickenlooper was renominated by Democrats in Colorado on Tuesday, but with what is currently the second lowest support across the 28 renomination attempts by U.S. Senators in the state over the last 110+ years. Hickenlooper received 53+ percent of the vote – less than eight points ahead of State Representative Julie Gonzales – with nearly 95 percent of the vote counted. That fell below the 54.2 percent won by appointed Senator Michael Bennet in 2010. Only one Colorado U.S. Senator has been defeated in a primary: Republican Rice Means lost to Denver Attorney Charles Waterman by 13.7 points in 1926 with 36.1 percent of the vote. Colorado U.S. Senators have been renominated without opposition in 21 of 28 primaries during the direct election era.
At least “Hick” survived his intramural challenge – something not true of 15-term Congress Member DeGette who, perhaps through a combination of complacency and overseas (read: Southwest Asian) politics, was edged out by a Democratic Socialist challenger who is alleged to have denied the legitimacy of the state of Israel.