U.S. Senate candidates Cory Gardner and John Hickenlooper are set to debate Tuesday evening in Fort Collins in what is the last scheduled debate before the Nov. 3 election.
The debate is scheduled for 6 p.m. in Fort Collins and will be hosted by Colorado State University, the Coloradoan and 9News. It will be available online from the Coloradoan’s website.
Gardner, the Republican incumbent from Yuma, is seeking re-election after winning his first Senate term in 2014. Hickenlooper, the Democratic former governor of Colorado, hopes to win the Senate seat after he briefly ran for president in 2020.
The race is being closely watched across the country as Republicans seek to preserve their Senate majority and Democrats seek to take control of the upper chamber of Congress.
Republicans hold a 53-seat majority in the Senate, but Democrats are targeting a number of perceived vulnerable senators as they seek their first Senate majority since they lost control in the 2010 election.
The candidates have traded barbs on a number of issues, including health care, energy resources and ethics. Gardner and Hickenlooper are also divided on Senate Republicans’ plan to hold confirmation hearings for U.S. Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett weeks before the election.
In past debates, Gardner has repeatedly needled Hickenlooper because the former governor was found guilty and later fined for ethics violations that occurred during his term. Gardner has said it is a sign that Hickenlooper is in politics for his own personal gain.
Hickenlooper has targeted Gardner because the senator has frequently sided with President Donald Trump on various votes, including court nominations and legislative efforts such as the attempted repeal of the Affordable Care Act.
Gardner and Hickenlooper have debated three times already. Their first debate was on Oct. 2 in Pueblo and their second debate was hosted by Telemundo and broadcast in English and Spanish on Oct. 6. Most recently, they debated Friday night in Denver.
John Purcell is an intern for The Durango Herald and The Journal in Cortez and a student at American University in Washington, D.C.
