The Colorado Supreme Court on Monday overturned a lower court decision to put Senate candidate Michelle Ferrigno Warren’s name on the June 30 Democratic primary ballot, siding with the Secretary of State’s Office.

After Ferrigno Warren fell short of collecting enough valid signatures to get on the ballot, she sued, alleging the pandemic had unfairly hampered signature-gathering efforts. A Denver District Court judge ruled in her favor, and Democratic Secretary of State Jena Griswold appealed the decision.

Warren turned in 5,383 valid signatures, just over half of the 10,500 required. The court determined that, despite the problems posed by the coronavirus pandemic, only the legislature could change the number of signatures required.

The Supreme Court ruling was specific to Ferrigno Warren’s case, but it could also affect Lorena Garcia, another Democrat who fell well short of the required signatures. That would leave only John Hickenlooper and Andrew Romanoff competing to take on Republican Sen. Cory Gardner in the fall.

State election law requires strict compliance, according to .

“While we recognize that the circumstances that made signature collection more difficult this year are unprecedented, we do not have the authority to rewrite the Election Code in response to the COVID-19 virus,” the ruling stated. “Only the General Assembly can do that.”

The legislature should have taken action, Ferrigno Warren told The Denver Post on Monday, but she won’t pursue the matter further.

“My campaign decided this will be the end,” she said.

Although the General Assembly passed a law before it went into recess making changes to the state’s major party assembly processes because of the public health crisis, it did not alter signature requirements for candidates.

“The Supreme Court instead indicated that it is incumbent upon the legislature to make changes to existing law, despite the extenuating circumstances,” said Betsy Hart, spokesperson for the Secretary of State’s Office.

The office has until Thursday to certify the ballot before it goes to county clerks.

In a surprising decision Tuesday, District Judge Christopher J. Baumann ruled Ferrigno Warren should be on the ballot, despite turning in 5,383 valid signatures March 17, far fewer than the 10,500 — or 1,500 from each of Colorado’s seven congressional districts — traditionally required for U.S. Senate candidates.

The hardships of collecting signatures during a pandemic and statewide stay-at-home order justified a break from the secretary of state’s requirement, Baumann ruled. The Secretary of State’s Office, represented by Assistant Attorney General Emily Buckley, believes Baumann’s ruling was inequitable and unjust.

“Stretching the substantial compliance standard so far as to allow a candidate who fell so short of the mark to access the primary election ballot is unfair to candidates who earned such access through full compliance with the election code, as well as those who fell short but chose not to pursue litigation to circumvent Colorado’s ballot access requirements,” Buckley wrote to the Colorado Supreme Court.

The Secretary of State’s Office, led by Democrat Jena Griswold, said in a statement to reporters that it recognizes the challenges coronavirus posed on candidates but wants courts to apply a uniform and fair standard to all candidates.

“That����ap why the Secretary of State’s Office is appealing the Ferrigno Warren District Court case. Given the gravity of this decision, the Colorado Supreme Court should have the opportunity to weigh in and we hope it will issue a uniform standard that can be applied to all similar cases,” said Betsy Hart, a spokeswoman for the Secretary of State’s Office.

The office is asking the Colorado Supreme Court to approve what it calls “a discount-rate formula” it created for determining signature sufficiency. The mathematical formula would cut candidates some slack for lost days during the stay-at-home order, but not lower the threshold as dramatically as Baumann did. Warren would not qualify for the June 30 ballot under this proposed formula.

Warren’s campaign contends that Baumann created a fair, uniform standard when he wrote that “a 50% threshold is a reasonable line to draw in this particular case.” Warren collected slightly more than 50% of the 10,500 signatures she needed.

Warren criticized Griswold’s decision to appeal the ruling, calling it “undemocratic,” but said she’s confident the Colorado Supreme Court will agree with Baumann.

“It����ap very telling the Colorado secretary of state waited until the late hours of Friday night to release this appeal,” Warren said in a news release. “This reeks of D.C-style politics and everything wrong with our government. The role of the Colorado secretary of state is to oversee fair and just elections and empower voters at the voting booth, not cherry pick who makes the ballot in the midst of a pandemic.”

What the Colorado Supreme Court does in this case will shape June 30 primary ballots. Before Baumann’s ruling, only two Democratic U.S. Senate candidates qualified to be on the ballot: John Hickenlooper and Andrew Romanoff.

A ruling in Warren’s favor would not only place her on the Democratic ballot but likely allow two other candidates, Lorena Garcia and Diana Bray, to be on the ballot as well. Garcia and Bray also fell short of the 10,500-signature threshold and have taken or plan to take similar legal actions in Denver District Court.

“Ms. Ferrigno Warren has substantially complied with the Election Code’s signature threshold, distribution and validity requirements,” District Judge Christopher J. Baumann wrote at the end of a 28-page decision.

The Secretary of State’s Office has not decided whether to appeal the decision, according to a spokesman. The office has three days to decide.

Warren, a Democrat, turned in 5,383 valid signatures March 17, far fewer than the 10,500 — 1,500 from each of Colorado’s seven congressional districts — traditionally required for U.S. Senate candidates. She filed a lawsuit that same day, alleging the coronavirus pandemic unfairly stunted signature-gathering.

Baumann’s ruling explains, in detail, the hardships Warren, her paid signature-gatherers and her unpaid volunteers encountered while filling petition pages. Two dozen signature-gatherers quit after a possible coronavirus exposure, he wrote.

“This case shows the political process is not immune from the virus. Candidates, voters and government officials have encountered a primary election season unlike any other in our history,” Baumann wrote in his ruling.

“It is within these circumstances, and in light of the arguments presented by Ms. Ferrigno Warren and the Secretary (of State), that the Court concludes strict adherence to the signature requirement for primary petitions must yield to this unprecedented public health emergency,” the judge added.

If Baumann’s ruling stands, Ferrigno Warren will become the third candidate on the June 30 Democratic ballot, joining John Hickenlooper and Andrew Romanoff. It’s unclear if the ruling could also open the door to two other candidates, Diana Bray and Lorena Garcia, who fell short of the 10,500-signature requirement.

“Today’s ruling ensured that we are one step closer to giving Coloradans voting choices that are not just between the establishment and a career politician,” Warren said in a statement after the judge’s decision.

Lorena Garcia turned in more than the necessary 10,500 signatures, but the secretary of state’s office must see whether she has enough valid ones to join John Hickenlooper and, in all likelihood, Andrew Romanoff on the Democratic primary ballot. Two other candidates turned in fewer than the required number of signatures.

“We didn’t make it, and we would have if it was not for coronavirus,” said Michelle Ferrigno Warren, who said she collected about 9,000 signatures.

She intends to ask a Denver District Court judge to either place her on the ballot or delay the deadline by a week. The coronavirus outbreak made voters reluctant to open doors or pick up pens and left some campaign volunteers electing to self-quarantine rather than canvass.

Candidates for U.S. Senate, the most closely watched race in Colorado this year, have two routes to the June 30 ballot. They can either turn in 1,500 valid signatures from each of the state’s seven congressional districts, or earn 30% of support at a mid-April state assembly following a weeks-long caucusing process.

Five candidates — four Democrats and one Republican — have taken the signature-gathering route. The Democrats are Garcia, Hickenlooper, Ferrigno Warren and Diana Bray. The Republican is Margot Dupre, a long-shot primary challenger to incumbent Sen. Cory Gardner who did not turn in signatures by Tuesday’s deadline.

“We turned in 13,824 signatures,” Garcia said Tuesday. “I’m feeling pretty good about it. We’re just going to have to see, but I feel pretty good about it.”

“We kept telling people, don’t feel like you have to and if you don’t want to collect anymore, we completely understand,” she said of her campaign volunteers, two of whom stopped petitioning in order to self-quarantine. “But people were just so committed and took the necessary precautions.”

Hickenlooper turned in signatures Feb. 19 and received word Monday that he’d qualified for the ballot. Garcia likely won’t know until April.

Bray, who stopped most of her signature-gathering two weeks ago, dropped off signatures Monday but acknowledged she did not have the 10,500 needed. She believes the state should switch to ranked-choice voting with a ballot of nine Democratic candidates June 30.

“When you only have seven or eight weeks to collect, two weeks’ time at the very end is significant,” Bray said.

Romanoff, who came out on top in the caucuses, said Tuesday that courts and legislators should change existing laws to help his signature-gathering primary opponents due to the unprecedented coronavirus.

Hickenlooper, a former governor and Denver mayor, is running for U.S. Senate. He is the first candidate to qualify for the Democratic primary, but at least one other candidate is likely to join him on the ballot.

Hickenlooper’s campaign said he will no longer compete in the assembly process, the other way candidates can achieve June 30 ballot access. Andrew Romanoff won the March 7 caucuses, the first step in the process, and is expected to land on June ballots as a result. Hickenlooper’s delegates are no longer bound to him.

“This will allow us to focus completely on winning the nomination in June,” Hickenlooper said in a video Monday, “and defeating Cory Gardner in the fall.”

Hickenlooper turned in nearly 15,000 valid signatures last month, before the spread of coronavirus and a state of emergency drastically hampered signature-gathering efforts. The not to extend a March 17 deadline for U.S. Senate candidates to hand in the required 10,500 signatures — 1,500 from each of Colorado’s seven congressional districts.

“Colorado has a chance to replace Cory Gardner with a progressive champion,” Romanoff said in a statement Monday. “That’s why we’re asking everyone who caucused for Hick to join us instead.”

This is politics during a public health emergency.

“Part of the bread and butter of campaigns is canvassing, and door-to-door contact has been virtually shut down,” said Diana Bray, a Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate who has until Tuesday to amass 10,500 signatures from across the state. If she can’t, her candidacy comes to an end.

“Many people are refusing to hold the pen that others have held to sign petitions. Many ask if they can sign my petition online, which they cannot,” she added.

Gov. Jared Polis declared a state of emergency Tuesday, making the already-difficult job of collecting 10,500 valid signatures — 1,500 from each of Colorado’s seven congressional districts — even harder, some Democratic Senate candidates say. And they can only speculate about what comes next, as a coronavirus outbreak threatens to upend politics across the country in this pivotal election year.

Senate candidate Michelle Ferrigno Warren, a Denver Democrat, met a couple with an infant who were willing to sign her petition but fearful of exposing their young child to the virus. So, the three made some adjustments.

“I have a volunteer who’s collecting signatures going to their house tonight. They said, we’re using our own pens and we’re doing it on the front porch and we’re not letting her in the house. I said, no problem, why don’t you call a bunch of your friends and neighbors and we’ll do a front porch, bring-your-own-pen signing,” Ferrigno Warren said Wednesday, adding that she still expects to turn in enough signatures next week.

One problem for candidates is that retirees, who are among the most politically engaged part of the population, are believed most vulnerable to the virus. Campaigns that had come to count on older volunteers are now operating with fewer of them in many cases.

“My senior volunteers are literally putting their health at risk if they circulate petitions for me, which I cannot, in good conscience, ask of them,” Bray said.

Senate candidate Lorena Garcia, a Denver Democrat, says a few of her volunteers with compromised immune systems have been replaced by other volunteers, but she still anticipates turning in the requisite amount of signatures Tuesday.

“Part of what we’re doing with our volunteers is making sure they all carry around hand sanitizer and wipes and that they’re constantly wiping down their hands, just to make sure we’re not spreading any kind of illness that might exist,” Garcia said.

Colorado Democratic Party officials say coronavirus lowered turnout at Saturday’s caucuses and many who did attend bumped elbows rather than shaking hands. Signature gathering and the caucuses, both of which have been affected by coronavirus, are the two pathways for Democratic candidates to get on the June 30 primary ballot. John Hickenlooper has already turned in signatures and Andrew Romanoff won last Saturday’s precinct caucuses.

Four small counties are scheduled to hold their next level of Democratic caucuses this Saturday afternoon. Those are still expected to occur, county party officials say.

“That’s what we’re planning on, anyway,” said Louise Peterson, chair of the Park County Democratic Party, which has a 1 p.m. assembly that day. “Weather or new recommendations could change that, but fingers crossed it won’t.”

On Thursday, state legislators from both parties introduced a bill to allow for remote participation in party assemblies and conventions, including votes by email, mail, telephone and the internet. The bill, which they’re trying to pass by Saturday, would also allow for minor rescheduling and expand the use of proxies.

“What this bill is doing is really taking into consideration the large groups of delegates that are going to be coming together, much of which is an at-risk population that could be very vulnerable to the spread of the coronavirus and susceptible to COVID-19,” said House Majority Leader Alec Garnett, D-Denver.

It only applies to the 2020 assemblies and conventions, not future years, and would not change the signature-gathering requirements or deadline.

Many aren’t waiting for new rules to change their behavior. Interest groups have canceled their Capitol lobbying days; lawmakers are canceling large gatherings, including news conferences; and senators are encouraging people to contact them through electronic means if possible.

The governor’s office has also informed lawmakers that Polis will stop holding public events to mark his signing bills into law. Those signings will take place in private for now.

On Thursday, three statehouse candidates announced they would immediately suspend all in-person campaign events of 10 people or more. The three — James Coleman, Iman Jodeh and John Ronquillo — will instead focus on digital outreach, along with small gatherings that follow strict sanitation protocols.

“I want to reassure the public, this decision should not be a cause of panic,” said Coleman, a state representative running for a state Senate seat in northeast Denver. “Rather, it should be a sign of the need to take action and that taking action is valuable. The more decisively we address the coronavirus upfront, the more likely we are to stave off a full medical crisis and save lives.”

“You’ll notice that today is not a debate,” she said. “It is a forum on purpose. The candidates will not be responding directly to each other or attacking or criticizing one another. Instead, they’ll be telling you about themselves.”

Candidates were warned before the event: Do not respond or even talk directly to another candidate. Attack an opponent by name, and you will forfeit your time. Talk only about yourself and your vision. No livestreaming or recording of any kind is allowed.

“We don’t have eight candidates running against each other,” Carroll told the Pueblo crowd Sunday. “We have eight candidates running for a better state and for a better country, to defeat Cory Gardner.”

Colorado Democrats may not acknowledge it, but, literally, they do have eight candidates running against each other. (A ninth, Christopher Milton, has filed to run but has launched no public campaign nor spoken at candidate events.) A majority of those in the race are crying foul on the state party’s anti-competitive forum rules.

In interviews this week, six of the eight candidates who attended the Pueblo forum criticized those rules. Michelle Ferrigno Warren defended them. John Hickenlooper sent a brief statement through a spokesperson and declined to be interviewed.

“It����ap a very pleasant fiction to suggest we’re not running against each other. Clearly one of us will emerge from this contest and take on Cory Gardner,” said Andrew Romanoff, adding, “The rules are silly and largely unenforceable.”

“I strongly prefer debates!” Trish Zornio emailed.

“I think (the rules) are a bit stringent,” said state Sen. Angela Williams, “because we don’t have the opportunity to compare and contrast our views and our policies so that the audience and the people of Colorado can get to know the candidates.”

The party has held three candidate forums so far for this race and has another planned for Oct. 20 in Montrose. The ground rules reflect long-standing party policies and were not tailored to this specific contest. Party staffers declined to be interviewed for this story, and instead emailed a statement defending their approach.

“Our ongoing and consistent goal has been to provide local, in-person forums for communities around the state to meet each of our candidates and learn about their vision to better represent Colorado in the United States Senate,” part of the statement read.

Several candidates said they have talked to party officials about the rules, pushing back on the livestream ban and other restrictions.

Diana Bray said she spoke in June with the party chair, Carroll, who explained the rationale behind the rules.

“What they’re concerned about is that the Republicans will use our voice and use video to manipulate, to have a misrepresentation about what we said. They’re worried about Republican malarkey and interference. That’s how she explained it to me,” Bray said.

Ferrigno Warren appreciates that concern.

“We must remove the cancer of personal attacks and name-calling from our public discourse,” she emailed. “These forums provide that very space.”

Indeed, Republican operatives have been opportunistic in trashing Gardner’s prospective opponents. When the candidates gathered in Denver for a June forum that was filmed — it was organized by Indivisible groups, not by the party — the National Republican Senatorial Committee cut the video and posted highlights set to circus music.

Joanna Rodriguez, a spokeswoman for the NRSC, laughed when asked whether the Colorado Democrats’ rules will do anything to mitigate the GOP’s offensive.

“Regardless of who the candidate is,” she said, “we’re going to be attacking that candidate.”

Colorado Democratic Party spokespeople would not comment on whether the party might change its rules. At the Pueblo forum, Romanoff used his closing remarks to call for a change.

“The way we win this race is to engage more voters,” he told the crowd, as he stood directly in front of Carroll. “I’m glad you came tonight, but I suggest, respectfully, that the party reconsider its ban on broadcasting this event.”

Romanoff was among several candidates who drew a distinction between the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee’s direct interference in this primary — Sen. Chuck Schumer recruited Hickenlooper, and the DSCC has taken steps to promote Hickenlooper at Romanoff’s expense — and the actions of Carroll and the state party.

But were the floodgates opened at the Colorado Democrats’ events, it is a near-certainty that candidates would challenge Hickenlooper — whose name recognition and fundraising are unmatched in the primary — on climate change, among other issues. Romanoff, Bray, Zornio and others have consistently criticized the former governor for his coziness with the fossil fuel industry.

They all, of course, have many ways to get their messages out besides at party forums, as the party noted in its statement. And they’ve gone after Hickenlooper when they’ve had the chance.

“I’ve spent years and years and years protesting Hickenlooper‘s promotion of oil and gas,” Tuesday morning. “No way will I sit by and now watch him pitch himself as (a) climate champion. Nope.”

She and others are hoping the party, at its events, will permit such challenges moving forward.

“This is the only way we can hold each other accountable on the record to our policy plans, our backgrounds and our histories,” Lorena Garcia said. “It’s time to stop censoring candidates.”

Gardner, a Yuma Republican, is seen as vulnerable after state voters handed decisive victories to Democrats in the 2018 midterm elections amid strong anti-Trump sentiment.

Here’s a look at who is running for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate, listed by the date they announced, in reverse chronological order.

Erik Underwood, former gubernatorial candidate

Underwood, a 40-year-old Denver Democrat who unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2018, announced Jan. 22 that he is running.

Underwood is a former Republican and was a staffer for former U.S. Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio. He says his time in Washington showed him how to get things done.

“I’m the only candidate who has ever worked in the United States Senate,” Underwood said of the large Democratic field. “John Hickenlooper has never worked in the United States Senate. Andrew Romanoff has never worked in the United States Senate. I have.”

David Goldfischer, University of Denver professor

Goldfischer, 68, filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission to run for the seat Dec. 9. He teaches at the university’s Josef Korbel School of International Studies and founded the programs in international and homeland security. He has lived in Denver for the past 30 years.

Goldfischer believes the state and country could use an elected official who understands national security and the threat another country’s interference poses to democracy.

“At this moment, a clear voice understanding where we are in history is needed in this race,” he said.

John Hickenlooper, former governor and Denver mayor

Hickenlooper, 67, dropped out of the presidential race Aug. 15 and said he was considering a Senate run. A week later, he announced he is running for Senate.

“I’ve always said Washington was a lousy place for a guy like me who wants to get things done – but this is no time to walk away from the table,” the former governor of Colorado said in his announcement video. “… I’m not done fighting for the people of Colorado.”

In that video, filmed at the Denver brewpub he founded, Hickenlooper echoed his presidential pitch to voters, which focused on ending the conflict in Washington. And he promised to work on fighting climate change, prescription drug prices and economic inequity.

Michelle Ferrigno Warren, advocate and nonprofit leader

Warren, 48, filed paperwork Aug. 2 and formally launched her campaign Aug. 6.

She is an advocacy and strategic engagement director for the Christian Community Development Association. Warren and her husband founded Open Door Ministries.

“Politics has become a game of winning and losing,” she said in an interview. “When politics is just a game of winning and losing, we all lose. We can’t afford to lose anymore.”

Warren says she was born into privilege, as well as conservatism, but sought out a different life after college. She taught disadvantaged youth elsewhere in the country before moving back to Colorado and settling in southwest Denver. Her campaign’s mantra is “People over politics.”

Diana Bray, environmental activist

Bray, 58, is a psychologist and a self-described climate justice advocate who April 2, 2019, with a focus on the environment.

“I’m running for US Senate to tackle our climate crisis head on by ensuring a just transition to renewable energy, and an economy that works for everyone,” she said in a kickoff message.

Stephany Rose Spaulding, professor and pastor

Spaulding, 40, is a professor of women’s and ethnic studies at the University of Colorado’s Colorado Springs campus and a Baptist pastor. She lost her challenge of Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colorado Springs, by 18 percentage points in November. She announced her Senate run April 1, 2019.

“I am not just for the people, I am of the people,” Spaulding said in a news release. “There are a number of candidates that feel for those who are under attack from this administration, but I am a candidate actually living the impact of dehumanizing policies and morally inept leadership.”

Andrew Romanoff, former Colorado House speaker

Romanoff, 52, announced Feb. 7, 2019. The former House speaker took a progressive stance on a variety of issues in his announcement, including Medicare for All, immigration reform and renewable energy. He also mentioned the Green New Deal to replace fossils fuels that����ap being pushed by his former aide, U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Boulder.

Romanoff’s re-entry into politics comes after four years leading Mental Health Colorado, an influential advocacy group in the state. He previously lost a U.S. Senate Democratic primary to Michael Bennet, who now holds the seat, and unsuccessfully challenged then-U.S. Rep. Mike Coffman in the 6th Congressional District.

Trish Zornio, scientist

Zornio, 33, announced Jan. 19, 2019, the same day as the �´dz����’�����Ѳ�������. Before announcing, Zornio spent more than a year crisscrossing the state to visit with voters in all 64 counties.

In her announcement, she said: “I’m running because we need to think forward and solve the problems of tomorrow, not only the problems of yesterday, the way I have done my entire career. Thinking forward means being proactive to meet those challenges before they arise, which will be my commitment as your next senator.”

Lorena Garcia, nonprofit leader

Garcia, 36, was the first candidate to officially announce on Nov. 27, 2018, less than a month after the election. Garcia has spent her professional career working for different charities and is currently the executive director of the Colorado Statewide Parent Coalition.

“Throughout my career, I have had direct experience working in the field with people who are impacted by federal policies,” Garcia told The Denver Post. “I’ve sat with them while they cried when things didn’t pass or didn’t work out right. … I believe we can do much better as a country, starting with Colorado.”

Those who declined

Former Colorado House Speaker Crisanta Duran was floated as a possible Senate candidate but opted to run for the U.S. House instead against Rep. Diana DeGette, a fellow Denver Democrat.

Secretary of State Jena Griswold launched an exploratory committee in July 2019, raising $200,000 in two weeks as she considered a Senate campaign, but announced Aug. 9 that she would not run in 2020.

“After some heartfelt deliberation, I have decided that now is not the right time for me to run for the Senate,” she said then, citing her ongoing work as secretary of state. “I am moved by the encouragement I have received, and sincerely want to thank everyone for their support. I look forward to continuing to work to ensure that Coloradans have a democracy they can believe in.”

State Sen. Kerry Donovan, D-Vail, was also asked by some to run for Senate. But when Hickenlooper announced his candidacy, she endorsed him instead.

“It����ap hard to explain what an honor it is when people ask you run for a higher office,” Donovan explained on Twitter. “I took those suggestions very seriously and gave it a lot of thought. I think Hickenlooper did too. He’s the right candidate to take on this challenge.”

Those who have dropped out

Angela Williams, state senator

Williams joined the race July 8. She represents northeast Denver in the Colorado Senate and emphasized her experience in the legislature during the campaign but failed to gain significant traction in a large primary led by John Hickenlooper and Andrew Romanoff. She dropped out Nov. 27 to run for re-election to the state Senate.

“Unfortunately, even now, as female candidates enjoy a historic level of support from voters, there are still elements of the Democratic Party seeking to promote male candidates at the expense of talented and smart progressive women,” Williams said in a news release.

“Fighting to give women, people of color and the underserved a voice isn’t always easy, especially when faced with strong headwinds from Washington, D.C.,” she added, a reference to the decision by Democrats in the nation’s capital to recruit and endorse Hickenlooper in the race against Republican Sen. Cory Gardner.

Alice Madden, former U.S. Energy Department official

Madden, who is also a former Colorado House majority leader, announced her candidacy May 9.

“I am, as of now, really the leading climate and clean energy champion in this race,” Madden said in an interview then. “And that’s why I got in this race, because I know there wasn’t anybody else, frankly, who could go to Washington and make things happen right away on this issue. It’s what I will lead on, it’s the first thing I’ll attack.”

But Madden called it quits Oct. 11, citing Hickenlooper’s entry.

“I had done an analysis that I had a path to victory if I could get progressive women and environmental groups to endorse, but after John got in, those avenues to victory seemed like they were closing,” she said in an interview.

Denise Burgess, Denver businesswoman

Burgess, who serves on the board of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, announced her entry into the race Sept. 16.

Burgess is a second-generation Coloradan who worked with her father to grow the family’s heating and air conditioning business into a nationwide construction management firm, Burgess Services Inc. Her company has worked on the City and County of Denver Justice Center and the Westin Hotel at Denver International Airport.

Three days after joining the race, Burgess exited Sept. 19, citing a failure to gain traction.

Dan Baer, former U.S. diplomat

Baer, 42, is a Harvard and Oxford graduate who was U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe between 2013 and 2017 and a deputy assistant secretary of state for four years before that. He served as Colorado’s executive director of higher education last year.

“Cory Gardner sits on the Foreign Relations Committee. I think one of the things I offer as a candidate going up against him is that I can go toe-to-toe with Cory Gardner on foreign policy issues,” Baer told the Denver Post on April 15, kicking off his campaign.

He exited the race Sept. 12, saying he would back Hickenlooper.

John Walsh, former U.S. attorney

Walsh, 57, was rumored to be entering the race for weeks before his April 16 announcement. For six years during the Obama administration, he was the top federal prosecutor in Colorado. He gained the immediate endorsement of former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, among others.

“This state has been so good to me and my family,” he said in a video announcement. “I spent my whole life fighting against institutions and individuals who have tried to get in the way of an open and fair system for all.”

But on Sept. 11, Walsh called it quits and threw his support behind John Hickenlooper. “I have concluded that Governor Hickenlooper offers our clear and best opportunity to defeat Cory Gardner,” he told supporters. “His long record of fighting for Coloradans is unmatched and leaves no doubt in my mind that he will win this campaign, and that he will make an outstanding Senator.”

Mike Johnston, former state senator

Johnston, 44, announced Jan. 31. The former teacher and school principal turned politician is best known for his work on education reform policies, including the state’s teacher evaluation law. This is also why he’s such a polarizing figure in the Democratic Party. During his gubernatorial run, the state’s largest teachers union took the unusual step of financing an attack ad against Johnston.

Johnston was an early fundraising front-runner after raising $1.8 million in the first three months of 2019. But he dropped out Sept. 3, after Hickenlooper joined the race.

“I think we had a very strong path to win this race before the governor got in and I think it was to give a positive vision of what we wanted to accomplish in the state and country,” Johnston said in an interview that day. “I think his entrance required this to be a very different kind of race and required a negative race that����ap not one that matches my values and how I would want to lead.”

Ellen Burnes, Colorado State professor

Burnes, a 51-year-old finance professor at Colorado State University and former chair of the Boulder County Democratic Party, announced her candidacy April 17.

“It����ap crystal clear that Washington is completely dysfunctional and our problems start with Cory Gardner’s failed leadership and his inability to represent our shared Coloradan values of hard work, progressivism and dedication to helping our fellow Coloradans have the resources they need to improve their lives,” she said in a press release.

On July 12, Burnes emailed supporters to say she was “withdrawing from the U.S. Senate race to pursue other community-focused leadership.”

Those who changed political parties

Christopher Milton, retired financial adviser

Milton, a 37-year-old from Alma, filed paperwork to run for Senate as a Democrat on Sept. 5, 2019.

“I am a moderate Democrat, socially liberal and fiscally conservative,” he said in an email at the time. “As a retired financial adviser, I strive to leverage my knowledge and experience for the benefit of all people, regardless of assets or any other discriminating classification.

But on Feb. 27, the Unity Party announced Milton had switched to their party.

“I’ve been as impressed with the Unity Party’s platform as I have been with their operations,” Milton said in a press release.  “Term limits are one of the many things essential to healing our democracy, to reducing the influence of money.”