Hickenlooper reports record fundraising haul in Colorado Senate bid

Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper raised $5.2 million in the second quarter of the year, making him the latest Democratic Senate hopeful to shatter a statewide quarterly fundraising record in recent months.

The campaign announced the fundraising haul on Wednesday afternoon. 

Hickenlooper won Colorado’s Democratic Senate primary last month and will face Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.) in the November general election. Gardner is among the most vulnerable GOP incumbents up for reelection this year, and recent polls show Hickenlooper with a wide lead in the race. 

Hickenlooper’s fundraising disclosure comes as Democrats in other competitive Senate races announce staggering fundraising hauls of their own. 

In Arizona, former astronaut Mark Kelly announced that he had raised $12.8 million in the second quarter of 2020 for his bid to unseat Sen. Martha McSally (R-Ariz.). And in North Carolina, Democrat Cal Cunningham’s campaign said he raised $7.4 million, setting a record in his state.

Republicans currently hold a 53-47 majority in the Senate. Democrats need to pick up at least three or four seats, depending on which party wins control of the White House, to capture control of the chamber in November. 

The GOP has found itself playing defense this year, particularly in states like Arizona, Colorado, Maine and North Carolina, where Democrats have mounted an aggressive effort to unseat vulnerable Republican incumbents. The party is also eyeing pick-up opportunities in Montana, Georgia, Iowa and Texas.

Gardner has not yet disclosed his full second-quarter fundraising haul. That report is due to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) by the end of the day on Wednesday. 

His most recent filing — a disclosure covering the pre-primary period in Colorado — shows that he pulled in about $2.1 million between April 1 and June 10. At the end of that period, he had about $9.3 million in cash on hand, according to the filing.

Hickenlooper’s campaign has not yet disclosed his cash on hand amount, though his pre-primary filing with the FEC showed him with about $5.9 million in the bank.