Colorado Politics reports that U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper has launched his first TV ad of the 2026 reelection campaign, one week before Colorado voters begin receiving primary ballots. The ad targets the Trump administration’s blocked plan to sell public lands, and it is part of a seven-figure statewide broadcast, cable, and digital ad buy.
Hickenlooper is facing a Democratic primary challenge from state Sen. Julie Gonzales of Denver, who is running at him from the left. The winner of the June 30 primary will face Republican state Sen. Mark Baisley in November. Heading into the primary, Hickenlooper had more than $4 million on hand, compared with about $114,000 for Gonzales and $6,000 for Baisley.
Seven figures. In a primary. That is what the Democrat establishment will spend to keep old man Hick, old and left, in office over Senadora Julie Gonzales, young and communist left. And Colorado voters get force-fed another glossy rescue mission from a career politician who wants to look above politics while swimming laps in it.
The Bullet Point Brief
- Hickenlooper’s first TV ad is about Trump, public lands, pardons, billionaires, and ballroom money. Because apparently the fastest way to explain why you deserve another six years is to point at the orange emergency exit sign.
- The ad buy is seven figures across statewide broadcast, cable, and digital. That is not persuasion. That is the Democrat machine backing up a dump truck full of consultant money and calling it democracy.
- Gonzales is challenging Hick from the left, accusing him of insufficient opposition to Trump. In other words, Democrats get to choose between old and left, or young and communist left. Colorado’s political buffet remains aggressively overcooked.
- Hickenlooper’s campaign also has digital ads reminding voters he once founded a brewpub, served as Denver mayor, and spent two terms as governor. The man has been dining out on “former quirky brewer” longer than some voters have had student loans.
- Neither Gonzales nor Baisley had placed significant ad reservations, according to the article. Hick has the airwaves, the money, the machine, and the soft-focus camera angles. All that is missing is a banjo and a golden retriever named Bipartisan.
My Bottom Line
We are going to hear a lot about how Hickenlooper “fought Trump.” That is the Democrat establishment’s favorite substitute for accomplishment. They do not have to explain what he actually fixed for Colorado if they can just dim the lights, cue the ominous music, and whisper “Trump” like they are telling ghost stories at a faculty retreat.
Meanwhile, what has Hick done for Colorado besides warm the chair for the Democrat machine? He has perfected the act: aw-shucks delivery, bipartisan costume jewelry, vague frontier virtue, and just enough anti-Trump seasoning to keep the donor class reaching for its checkbook. It is politics dipped in craft-beer foam.
This is the old trick. Sell “service.” Sell biography. Sell the photo in the fleece vest. Sell the idea that the career politician is somehow not a career politician because he looks mildly uncomfortable saying partisan things. Then carefully avoid the parts of the record that need disinfectant.
The machinery is the story: consultants, ad buyers, soft-focus biography, media amplification, and the great Democratic fear that their left flank might actually take them seriously. So they will spend seven figures to protect Hick from Gonzales, then tell Colorado voters this is about public lands, democracy, and saving the republic. Sure. And I am sure the ballroom lighting tested beautifully with suburban women 43 to 58.
Source: Colorado Politics
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