Incumbent U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper took the victory in Colorado’s Democratic Senate primary race against state Sen. Julie Gonzales.

The Associated Press called the win at 7:36 p.m. Tuesday. Unofficial results from the Colorado Secretary of State’s office show Hickenlooper leading with 55% of the vote as of 9 a.m. Wednesday.

Hickenlooper will face off in November against Republican state Sen. Mark Baisley for one of Colorado’s two U.S. Senate seats, both currently held by Democrats. Baisley, a member of the Colorado State Senate representing District 4, is running unopposed in his party.

Characterized as a moderate Democrat, Hickenlooper, 74, is currently serving his first six-year term as U.S. Senator. The senator has been in office since 2003, after serving as Denver mayor and governor.

“Coloradans have once again made their voices clear; We are not going to accept Trump’s broken promises and cost of living emergency or his constant corruption,” Hickenlooper said in a Facebook video Tuesday night. “…Thank you to State Senator Julie Gonzalez. Thank you for your passion and your fight for working Coloradans. To your supporters, I hope you will join our fight. I’ve always believed that we’re our strongest when we are united together.”

If reelected in November, Hickenlooper has stated his top priority would be to control the increases in residents’ cost of living, particularly through tackling rising costs in healthcare, housing and food accessibility. The senator has also stated that his reelection bid will be the last of his career.

The race to represent Colorado and the Democratic Party in the U.S. Senate has been largely dominated by issues including immigration, healthcare and standing up to the Trump Administration.

“Our democracy is at risk like we’ve never seen before,” Hickenlooper said. “But stopping Trump is just the beginning. We need to unrig the system and deliver the big solutions that Coloradans deserve.”

While Hickenlooper and Gonzales have both expressed support for dismantling Immigration and Customs Enforcement and replacing it with an alternative system, the two disagree on whether jumping to “Medicare for All” right away is the best approach for healthcare reform. 

Despite Gonzales’ active campaigning for a public debate with Hickenlooper, the two never participated in any transitional, face-to-face debates ahead of the June 30 Democratic primary. Hickenlooper previously said that weekly trips between Colorado and Washington, D.C., have made it difficult to accept debate invitations.

Hickenlooper collected around $7.7 million in contributions since 2025 and spent just under $6.2 million as of the most recent June filing deadline with the Federal Election Commission. Gonzales gathered almost $870,000 and spent $643,000 during the same period. 

Gonzales had formally pledged to take zero contributions from corporate political action committees or the American Israel Public Affairs Committee early on in her campaign. Meanwhile, Hickenlooper has drawn attention from progressive advocacy groups like Track AIPAC for accepting contributions from pro-Israel PACs.

Colorado has shifted left over the past decade, securing Democratic majorities at the state and federal levels and leaving Republicans without a statewide election win since 2016. Hickenlooper’s seat in the Senate has alternated between Democrats and Republicans for most of the state’s history, with Republican Cory Gardner occupying the office from 2015 to 2021.