U.S. Senate candidate Andrew Romanoff needs as many of these progressives as possible to line up behind his candidacy if he stands any chance of pulling off what his campaign says would be “one of the biggest political upsets of our time” — a defeat of John Hickenlooper in the Democratic primary Tuesday.

Progressives are ascendant in Colorado, and Romanoff brought them aboard his campaign this year and last better than anyone in a crowded Democratic field seeking to challenge Republican incumbent Cory Gardner. But in that time, he has routinely faced questions about his centrist past and heard the animosity of progressives skeptical of his lurch to the left.

“Progressives are absolutely not a monolith, and I know many who personally are struggling with this primary, as they don’t see either Senate candidate as a progressive,” said Stephany Rose Spaulding, a progressive and former Senate candidate who lost to Romanoff at the Democratic state assembly in April. “I have not endorsed either candidate for this very reason.”

Lorena Garcia, arguably the most progressive candidate to run for Senate in Colorado this year, disagreed often with Romanoff, whom

“I think there are efforts to unify the progressives around Romanoff, but it����ap not working,” Garcia said Wednesday.

“I think it����ap not working because many of these progressive leaders who are now pushing energy his way had originally denounced Romanoff when he entered the race and are now trying to claim he is the progressive champion. This is not only insincere, it����ap inauthentic, and progressives demand authenticity. People may still vote because he says the right things, but the excitement for this race is gone.”

One area where Romanoff has excelled is in uniting climate-focused progressives. National climate leaders have endorsed him, and the youth-led Sunrise Movement has worked the phones and hit the streets for months to help Romanoff. Former Senate candidate Diana Bray, a climate activist, .

“It is very interesting that I am the only former candidate who is now backing Andrew,” Bray says. “Not one other person came out in support of him, but I don’t think this is reflective at all as to how the public sees him.”

She said Romanoff has unified the climate movement and will win Tuesday, defying conventional wisdom.

“Romanoff’s consistent trajectory has been from relatively centrist to progressive to ultra-progressive: Green New Deal, Medicare for All, reparations, systemic change,” Bray added. “The people of Colorado are masked and ready.”

Romanoff also believes progressives are united behind him. In an interview this week, he listed national progressive advocates who have endorsed him — Ady Barkan, Bill McKibben, Wendell Potter — as evidence of that.

“The way Romanoff has been playing this as an ‘outsider’ candidate running against an establishment candidate is pretty much by the playbook,” said Kyle Saunders, a political science professor at Colorado State University. “You try to court anti-establishment groups, you try to court the progressive wing of the party, and he has done that relatively successfully.”

The Progressive Change Campaign Committee, which helped liberal U.S. Senate candidate Charles Booker turn a Kentucky primary competitive Tuesday, endorsed Romanoff this week and raised $10,000 for him by Wednesday. Its members will work the phones for him through Election Day, in tandem with Sunrise volunteers.

“This is obviously one of the most winnable Senate seats in 2020, a year that Democrats really want to win back the Senate,” said Maria Langholz, a press secretary for the PCCC, “and there’s really no excuse for electing a corporate Democrat who is fighting against progress on a lot of key issues.”

What Romanoff lacks — and what some of his supporters have long awaited — is an endorsement from a nationally known progressive elected official, namely Sen. Bernie Sanders. David Sirota, a Colorado-based Sanders adviser, supports Romanoff and state Rep. Emily Sirota, his wife, says she and all of Colorado’s Sanders delegates to the Democratic National Convention back Romanoff, too. But Sanders does not.

“He’s our best shot to win the Senate seat in November and actually use that representation to do the work that needs to be done,” said Emily Sirota. “That����ap why I support Andrew. I think many progressives feel similarly.”

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, Democrats did not meet as scheduled, but instead cast their vote electronically and telephonically for one of three Democratic Senate candidates: Romanoff, Stephany Rose Spaulding, and Erik Underwood.

Romanoff won , Spaulding took 9% and Underwood grabbed less than 1%. More than 4 percent of delegates abstained from voting. Candidates needed 30% of the total to qualify for the June 30 ballot.

“Voters don’t want to replace one fossil fuel funded, insurance industry parroting candidate for another,” Romanoff said in a statement after his win, criticizing both Hickenlooper and incumbent Sen. Cory Gardner.

“And they certainly don’t want to hire someone who told them over and over again that he’d be a terrible senator — or someone like Cory Gardner who’s already proving it,” added Romanoff, a former speaker of the Colorado House.

The state assembly vote is one of two ways candidates can qualify for the June 30 primary. The other is by turning in 1,500 signatures from each of the state’s seven congressional districts, which Hickenlooper successfully did in February.

“This health crisis has been hard on everyone and has made clear how broken Washington is,” Hickenlooper said Saturday, adding that his campaign “is ready to win the nomination in June” and the general election in November.

A trio of candidates fell short of the signature requirement, in part, they say, because of the pandemic. They are considering legal action. Meanwhile, Saturday’s vote eliminates Spaulding and Underwood from the U.S. Senate race.

It’s likely then that Romanoff, the favorite of progressive Democrats, will face off head-to-head June 30 against Hickenlooper, the favorite of establishment, moderate Democrats. Romanoff has strong activist support and momentum, while Hickenlooper has far more money and superior name recognition.

Republicans Saturday and kicked off voting in the Senate race, where the incumbent Gardner, of Yuma, faces a long-shot primary challenge from Margot Dupre. Results will be announced next Saturday.

During the virtual Republican assembly, Gardner’s campaign played a video that featured President Donald Trump praising him at a February rally in Colorado Springs. Gardner, speaking from a home office, told his fellow Republicans that Democrats believe beating him will help them take control of the Senate.

“My message to Chuck Schumer is to keep your hands off of our Constitution,” Gardner said of the Senate minority leader, a Democrat from New York.

Gardner said he was running “to fight back against the Green New Deal, to fight back against efforts to take away our Second Amendment rights, to fight back against efforts to increase taxes” and to work to improve the economy.

Romanoff, meanwhile, embraced the Green New Deal in remarks after his victory.

“When we come out of this crisis, Americans want to know whether we’ll put millions of people back to work through a Green New Deal and whether we’ll have health care that can never be taken away again,” the liberal Democrat claimed.

“I say yes. Cory Gardner and John Hickenlooper say no.”

News developments around the now-pandemic respiratory infection have accelerated quickly in the seven days since Colorado health officials announced the first confirmed cases in the state. The past two days alone brought a continuing slide in the financial markets, the suspension of the NBA and NHL seasons, a delay of MLB’s opening day, the cancellation of the NCAA’s remaining winter and spring championships — including March Madness — and President Donald Trump’s announcement of significant European travel restrictions.

So let����ap take a deep breath.

Here is what public health officials, along with Gov. Jared Polis, have emphasized: Most people, especially those who are in good health and younger than 60, are not at high risk for hospitalization if they contract coronavirus. But recommendations for vigilant hand-washing and “social distancing” — avoiding crowds and big events — are important for everyone to follow. Those measures offer the best chance to slow the spread of the virus to those who are at higher risk, which in turn will reduce the chances that hospitals become overwhelmed with severe cases in coming weeks and months.

As of this afternoon, 44 cases have been confirmed in Colorado, a total that . But totals are expected to grow quickly as more people are tested. “This will get worse before it gets better,” Polis predicted Wednesday, especially since public officials now have confirmation that the virus is spreading in the community.

We are starting to get the measure of the virus’ ramifications for politics, and I’m not talking about how it might affect the presidential election. Today, The Denver Post����ap politics team examines how coronavirus is having an impact on activities such as door-to-door canvassing and petition gathering — and how it����ap prompting the parties to question whether they should have their upcoming county assemblies.

In another story today, I looked more broadly at how coronavirus concerns are affecting our daily lives, in ways big and subtle. And Conrad Swanson takes a look at the quarantine and isolation orders that we may be hearing more about.

In this week’s Spot, Conrad and Saja Hindi examine how the coronavirus is affecting city and state government, Justin Wingerter reports on Senate candidate John Hickenlooper’s pitch to caucus-goers, and I look at what����ap happening with Mike Bloomberg’s extensive Colorado operation now that he’s dropped out of the presidential race.

To support the important journalism we do, you can become a Denver Post subscriber .

You can send tips, comments and questions to Alex at aburness@denverpost.com or to the other Post reporters below.

Top Line

Perhaps the most urgent question at the Capitol this week is not whether the legislative session will at some point be halted over the spread of coronavirus — it probably will, at least one top lawmaker believes — but what the public health emergency portends for the state budget.

To receive the rest of The Spot, the free weekly political newsletter of The Denver Post, sign up here.

Romanoff, a favorite of progressive activists, dominated the better-funded John Hickenlooper in statewide caucuses Saturday, winning more delegates than Hickenlooper in every large Colorado county en route to a commanding win.

Statewide, Romanoff won 55% of support in the preference poll, Hickenlooper earned 30%, Trish Zornio received 7%, Stephany Rose Spaulding won 5%, and Erik Underwood won 0.2%. Another 3% of caucus attendees were uncommitted, . A few small counties had not reported as of Sunday night and are not included in this total.

In Denver County, where Hickenlooper was mayor for eight years, Romanoff won 61% of delegates to 22% for Hickenlooper, 9% for Spaulding and 6% for Zornio.

In Boulder County, a hub for liberal activism, Romanoff won 64% of delegates to 21% for Hickenlooper, 9% for Zornio and 3% for Spaulding.

Romanoff also won majorities in Adams County, Douglas County, Jefferson County, Pueblo County and Larimer County, plus a plurality in El Paso County.

“You defied the political establishment and carried our message — a Green New Deal, health care for all, an economy that works for everyone — to communities across the state,” Romanoff told supporters in an email Sunday.

Held on an unseasonably warm Saturday and amid worries of a coronavirus outbreak, the low-turnout caucuses were the first occasion for Democrats to choose among their party’s large U.S. Senate candidate field. Rather than choose the front-running Hickenlooper, most instead went with the liberal Romanoff.

At Thomas Jefferson High School in Denver, Barbara Groth, 67, voted for Romanoff. She expressed frustration with the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee for throwing its support behind Hickenlooper, calling that decision a “huge disservice to Romanoff.”

At Overland High School in Aurora, Michael Carr also chose Romanoff, who went on to win 56% of delegates in Arapahoe County and 55% in Adams County.

“He’s the best at building bridges with the other side,” Carr said of the former Colorado House speaker, who often touts his bipartisan record in the legislature. “It can’t just be us versus them; we all have to work for the good of our country.”

As a result of Saturday’s preference poll, most of the delegates sent to county caucuses later this month will be Romanoff supporters, making it likely that he is able to earn 30% of support at an April 18 state assembly.

Romanoff, Spaulding, Underwood and Zornio will each need 30% of assembly support if they are to have their names placed on June 30 primary ballots. Several other candidates are taking a signature-gathering route to ballot access, bypassing the caucuses. Hickenlooper is taking both routes and has turned in signatures.

Romanoff expects the weekend win will boost his fundraising and volunteer recruitment, but caucuses in Colorado are not predictive of primary success. Cary Kennedy won the Democratic gubernatorial caucuses in 2018 but lost to Jared Polis later that year. And Romanoff over Sen. Michael Bennet but lost to the incumbent Bennet in that year’s Democratic primary.

Hickenlooper predicted two weeks ago that he would win the preference poll but downplayed both his expectations and the importance of caucuses in remarks to reporters Saturday afternoon. He said the true contest will be the June 30 primary.

“I’ve run statewide twice in bad years for Democrats and I have a relationship with Democrats across the state,” Hickenlooper told reporters outside his precinct site, referring to gubernatorial wins in 2010 and 2014. “And that relationship should allow me to build momentum and really take Cory Gardner on head to head.”

Romanoff, a progressive favorite, won 55% of the raw vote and Hickenlooper won 31% with 55 of 64 counties, including Denver, reporting late Saturday, according to the Colorado Democratic Party. However, several counties will not report their results or the number of delegates won by candidates until Sunday.

Precinct caucus results will determine the number of delegates that candidates have at upcoming county caucuses. Results there will determine delegate counts at an April 18 state assembly, where candidates will need at least 30% support to have their names placed on June 30 primary ballots.

The caucus is one of two ways to get on the Senate primary ballot — candidates also can do so by gathering signatures — and only about half attempted the caucus route. Low turnout at Saturday’s precinct gatherings amid the coronavirus outbreak had some Democrats discussing whether the tradition should continue.

In a phone interview, Romanoff called the results “a new beginning” and “a shot in the arm” for his campaign. He said he expects an uptick in fundraising and volunteer recruitment to follow.

“Our grassroots campaign just crushed the D.C. machine and won today’s caucuses!” Romanoff told supporters around 7:30 p.m. “The power brokers and party bosses in Washington didn’t get the memo, but it turns out a lot of people in Colorado want to replace Cory Gardner with a progressive champion.”

Gayle Rodgers, 74, caucused for Romanoff in south Denver because of his environmental ideas. Romanoff is a supporter of the Green New Deal and, like most candidates, has made combating climate change a top issue.

“Hickenlooper is married to oil and gas,” Rodgers said.

At his precinct caucus site in Park Hill on Saturday, Hickenlooper downplayed the importance of caucuses. While a great way to hear from people and meet engaged Democrats, caucuses are usually attended by “the very progressive part of the party,” he said, adding that a long line of successful Colorado Democrats — Ken Salazar, Michael Bennet, Jared Polis — have lost caucuses.

“The only ballot that really matters in determining who the candidate is going to be representing Democrats in the Senate race is the one that happens June 30. That����ap where I have to win,” he said.

At Thomas Jefferson High School in Denver, 40 precincts came together to vote. Elizabeth ErkenBrack, 37, caucused for Hickenlooper, calling him a “hard-core Democrat” who nonetheless brings a balanced perspective she said the country desperately needs.

“Hickenlooper is more effective on a national stage,” she said. “He has proven he can be attractive to the majority of Coloradans.”

The day was less of a success for the three other Democrats on caucus ballots, according to the results posted Saturday night: Trish Zornio had nearly 7% support in the preference poll, Stephany Rose Spaulding over 5%, and Erik Underwood less than 1%.

Spaulding had a supporter Saturday in Tay Anderson, an outspoken new member of Denver’s school board, who caucused for her.

“I strongly believe we need to have representation on the ballot,” Anderson said in an interview at McAuliffe International School in Park Hill. “We failed to nominate a woman to be on the ballot for the presidency. It����ap time for us to at least acknowledge we believe in woman leadership.”

As thousands of Colorado Democrats congregated in their neighborhood schools, rec centers, firehouses and churches, talk of coronavirus was everywhere. Candidates and their surrogates often met voters with an outstretched elbow or a fist bump, rather than risk a handshake.

Several precinct leaders and participants in Saturday’s caucuses noted the low turnout. While many expected fewer people to show up because voters selected presidential candidates through a primary election this year, rather than the usual caucuses, they still felt it was disappointing.

Sarah Johnson, 21, participated in her second caucus Saturday. At her precinct meeting in Thomas Jefferson High School, there were four people. She said, “I just kind of think of it as doing my civic duty.”

But maybe the low turnout means it����ap time to retire the process, some suggested. U.S. Rep. Diana DeGette attended several caucus meetings, including at Thomas Jefferson High School, and noted those who showed up are dedicated.

She’s not sure, though, that moving the meetings to the Saturday after Super Tuesday was the right call. She said it����ap time to have a conversation about how candidates will be nominated in the future.

Michele Hanley, 41, has mixed feelings about what to do. She said caucuses are where candidates who are not backed by big money can fight against larger campaigns and have a better chance than in a primary.

“I’m torn,” she said. “I like that it opens it to small groups of people.”

An earlier version of this story reported delegate-count results in Denver, but the state Democratic Party subsequently removed those numbers from its results page, saying they were being recalculated.

Five Democratic candidates for Senate will compete in Saturday’s caucuses: John Hickenlooper, Andrew Romanoff, Stephany Rose Spaulding, Erik Underwood and Trish Zornio. Five other candidates will try to obtain ballot access for the late June primary by collecting signatures, bypassing the weekend caucuses.

For the five competing Saturday, a preference poll of caucus attendees will be the first gauge of their statewide support and a true test of their ability to compete. The poll will be used to allocate delegates to county assemblies later in March. Polls taken at county assemblies will then be used to allocate delegates to the state assembly April 18, where a candidate will need 30% support to have their name placed on June 30 ballots.

“This is the first time Colorado will get a sense of where people actually stand on the candidates,” Spaulding said of Saturday’s caucuses. “Coloradans are not yet decided on who they want to be their nominee.”

In interviews Thursday, several candidates said they have spoken to engaged Democratic voters who are unaware caucuses are occurring or who have lost faith in caucuses after Iowa’s mishaps this year. In Romanoff’s words, Colorado’s caucuses are “a system that no one would design from scratch.”

“I actually have no idea what the turnout will be,” he said.

The field of five caucusing candidates includes Hickenlooper, the former governor and leading Democratic candidate, as well as two of his top liberal opponents, Romanoff and Spaulding. Zornio has been running longer than the other four and has toured every Colorado county twice. Underwood has been through the caucus process before, when he was a gubernatorial candidate in 2018.

“I do expect to win, of course,” Hickenlooper told reporters Feb. 28 at a Denver event with U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a New York Democrat who endorsed him that day.

“He’s going to kick some serious butt,” Gillibrand added with a laugh, before Hickenlooper slightly downplayed his chances.

“You have to understand, our caucus system is an old-fashioned caucus system, so I might not kick that much butt in the caucus system,” he said. “But I look forward to the primary election.”

Underwood said he will spend Friday meeting with voters in population centers along the Front Range. to what he estimated to be 1,000 people at a Capitol rally opposing , which would make the process for requesting vaccine exemptions more onerous.

“I will never get in between a woman trying to protect her child or children,” Underwood said into a megaphone on the steps of the Colorado Capitol. In that day, he wrote, “We cannot let Big Pharma to become a shadow government controlling our choice, freedom, and bodies.”

Romanoff will spend Friday in Colorado Springs, Highlands Ranch, Littleton and Fort Collins. Spaulding said her campaign will continue knocking doors and operating phone banks. Zornio, fighting an illness, will remain at home and make calls reminding her supporters to caucus Saturday.

“We’re feeling good as we look at the number of people who say they’re going to come out and support us,” Zornio said. “We just have to see what happens on Saturday.”

Hickenlooper has led the Democratic field by a wide margin in early polls but faces an engaged and enraged left flank of the party that prefers his more progressive challengers. The caucuses will be the first test of Hickenlooper’s well-funded campaign, as well as those of his liberal critics.

“In the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, many of them are very much anti-Hickenlooper,” said Spaulding. “We’ll see how much they are anti-Hickenlooper come Saturday.”

Preference poll results will be posted by the Colorado Democratic Party online and on Twitter on Saturday afternoon and evening. Though crucial for allocating delegates, such polls are not always indicative of primary success. In 2018, for example, Cary Kennedy easily won the Democratic gubernatorial preference poll but lost handily to Jared Polis in that summer’s primary.

Democrats can take part in Saturday’s caucuses if they will be at least 18 years old by Election Day, are registered to vote, and were registered as Democrats by Feb. 14. Precinct numbers can be found on the Secretary of State’s Office website, and precinct locations are at .

Republicans will also gather for caucuses Saturday, though there isn’t a competitive Senate primary. For the re-election campaigns of Sen. Cory Gardner and President Donald Trump, the caucuses are an opportunity to organize grassroots support and energize volunteers eight months before November.

In the days after President Donald Trump ordered a surprise drone strike in Iraq that killed Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani on Jan. 2, Democrats seeking the Senate seat in Colorado criticized the move, and one, Lorena Garcia, marched with protesters in downtown Denver, demanding peace.

“No War on Iran! U.S. Out of Mid-East,” Garcia’s sign read, as she alongside hundreds of other anti-war Coloradans on Jan. 4.

“He has no authority to continue any sort of engagement in Iran,” of Trump that day. “He is posturing, and the only thing that will come of this is unnecessary blood spill and destruction. This man is the most dangerous human on the planet right now.”

Democratic candidate Andrew Romanoff, asked by The Denver Post what he would do about Iran if he was in the Senate today, had a more moderate response.

“I would demand the same thing that a bipartisan group of senators is demanding: Evidence of the threat and a required consultation with Congress that the president seems indifferent to,” Romanoff said at a Denver fundraiser Thursday night.

“In the last week, we’ve seen Iran abandon any limits on its nuclear program and the American-led coalition halt its efforts to counter ISIS,” he added. “Those developments make the world more dangerous.”

John Hickenlooper, the front-runner to take on Republican U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner, said he weighs such matters with a simple test: “Is the world safer because of these decisions?”

“And now it seems more dangerous for us, for our troops, and for our allies than it was last week. Now we have to figure out what comes next. We need congressional oversight, real diplomacy, and global engagement going forward to keep us safe,” Hickenlooper said Friday.

In 2019, it would have been hard to imagine the Democratic Senate primary could be dominated by talk of foreign policy. It was rarely asked about at forums and debates and, when it was discussed, usually garnered only broad answers about Iran, such as the need for reinstating a nuclear agreement.

At campaign stops, candidates would spend an hour or 90 minutes taking questions and never hear one about foreign policy. On campaign literature and websites, foreign relations is well below the domestic topics that have dominated the Democratic race: climate change, health care, immigration, guns, the economy.

Now, as the campaigns ramp up after a holiday slumber, there are new topics: authorization for military force, the need for congressional oversight, and the complexities of a volatile Middle East, though there’s reason to believe domestic issues will still dominate 2020. At the private Romanoff fundraiser Thursday night, there were two questions about mental health, one about guns, one about climate and one about pet euthanasia. Iran was not mentioned.

“It����ap a shame we haven’t been talking more about foreign policy,” Garcia says. “I think it will become an issue and then it’ll die down, just like every other issue. We start talking more about gun violence when there’s a shooting, and a week later we stop talking about it.”

The Democratic field largely agrees there needs to be a de-escalation of tension with Iran, though they differ on what that should look like.

“Actions have consequences, and while Soleimani is an enemy of the U.S., I fear his assassination — ordered by Trump with no congressional oversight — is reactionary and could serve to escalate tensions in an already fraught region and cost more lives,” said Trish Zornio soon after the Iranian general’s death. “We need strategic plans, not emotions.”

On Twitter, candidate Diana Bray shared a tweet that called Soleimani’s death “an illegal war crime” and predicted “it will begin a world war.” Stephany Rose Spaulding has called on Congress to reclaim its war powers and “repudiate presidential overreaches,” a problem she says did not begin with Trump.

The man every Democrat in the race is hoping to compete against in November, Gardner, has been an outspoken supporter of Trump’s decision to kill Soleimani. The Republican senator from Yuma is a Foreign Relations Committee member and foreign policy is an area of expertise.

“We find ourselves here because the Obama administration failed to deter the Iranian threat,” Gardner said Jan. 3 — a point of disagreement with every Democratic challenger. “The flawed 2015 nuclear deal not only provided a pathway to a nuclear bomb, it emboldened Tehran’s bloody ambitions.”

“I do not want war with Iran, but the president did not take this action in a vacuum,” Gardner said on the Senate floor Thursday, referring to Soleimani’s death. “Contrary to claims by some of my colleagues in this very chamber, it is Iran that has escalated tensions, not the United States.”

Gardner is seeking a second Senate term, five years after narrowly beating incumbent Mark Udall in a race that centered on domestic concerns but touched on foreign policy in its final months. , who voted against the Iraq War in 2003, of being weak on ISIS after it beheaded two Americans. of playing politics with national security and criticized his reticence on Syria.

“Running for a seat like U.S. Senate, you have to be ready to understand foreign policy and take a position on it,” Garcia said, “especially when it comes to war and especially when it comes to a president who is already not trusted to make a decision that would be in the best interest of Americans.”

One foreign policy expert in the Senate race dropped out Sept. 12 and endorsed Hickenlooper. Dan Baer was a U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe and a deputy assistant secretary of state under Obama. When he entered the race, he said he looked forward to going “toe to toe” with Gardner on foreign policy.

“One of the interesting things this week was how Gardner decided to hug the president close on a foreign policy issue that was controversial,” Baer said in an interview Friday. “In the past, he’s hugged the president close in a lot of ways but he has, at times, tried to find an independent voice on foreign policy. He’s had strong statements on North Korea, on Russia.”

Baer said the Democratic primary winner should link Gardner to Trump, who is unpopular in Colorado, when discussing foreign policy.

“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.”