Q& As COLORADO U. S. SENATE CANDIDATES Should the Affordable Care Act be replaced? If so, what would you replace it with?
What will your top three priorities be if elected?
Cory Gardner: We’re experiencing an economic crisis as a result of the coronavirus. Keeping people safe, supporting small businesses and getting Americans back to work must be our continued focus. Prior to COVID- 19, Colorado’s economy saw record job growth, wage increases, its lowest unemployment rate in history and an outdoor recreation economy that employed 229,000 workers while adding $ 11 billion to the economy annually. Working together, we can return to that economic climate and ensure that every Coloradan is safe and healthy.
Gardner: Both Democrats and Republicans want to replace the Affordable Care Act. While my opponent wants to replace it with a socialized health care system that will kill millions of jobs and rip private insurance away from the vast majority of Americans, I believe we can find bipartisan solutions that protect people with preexisting conditions, allow people to buy health insurance across state lines, build on the successful innovations such as telemedicine, and lower the cost of prescription drugs. I’ll continue working across the aisle to establish a free- market system that works for the American people.
John Hickenlooper: This pandemic has underscored the importance of health care. When I get to the Senate, I will protect health care coverage for Coloradans with preexisting conditions and fight to lower health care costs. When we emerge from this pandemic, we will not only need to build back our economy, but we’ll need to build back stronger, by building an economy that works for small businesses and workers instead of only the largest corporations. Climate change is an existential crisis, and in the Senate I’ll work to promote renewable energy, reinstate the air and water protections Cory Gardner and Donald Trump rolled back, and finally pass the bipartisan CORE act to protect Colorado’s public lands from oil and gas drilling.
Hickenlooper: I support protecting and strengthening the Affordable Care Act. As governor, I helped implement the law, expanding health care coverage to 500,000 Coloradans. Their coverage could end if President Trump and Sen. Gardner’s dangerous lawsuit to overturn the ACA succeeds. As senator, I will fight every day to protect coverage for the 2.4 million people with preexisting conditions in our state and make sure that everyone can get covered. Colorado deserves a senator who is committed to bringing down the cost of health care, who will reduce the cost of prescription drugs and end surprise medical billing.
John Hickenlooper
Democratic Party
Age: 68
Residence: Denver
Profession: Geologist, brewer, former Denver mayor and Colorado governor
Education: Wesleyan University ( BA and MS)
Family: Married to Robin Pringle Hickenlooper and father to Teddy
Experience: Former small business owner, mayor and governor