Hickenlooper survives Colorado Senate primary, five-term Congressman Tipton gets out Trumped

Five-term Colorado GOP Rep. Scott Tipton lost his primary race against a first-time candidate with a strong pro-Trump agenda, and Democrat John Hickenlooper won his Colorado Senate primary race in Tuesday’s balloting. 

Tipton was defeated by newcomer Lauren Boebert, a strong gun-right advocate who owns Shooters Grill in Rifle, Colorado, despite Tipton having been endorsed by President Trump.

Hickenlooper –  a former Colorado governor, Denver mayor and 2020 presidential candidate – was heavily favored to challenge incumbent GOP Sen. Cory Gardner, a race Democrats think they can win in November in their bid to control the Senate.

But a recent series of missteps by Hickenlooper, including a state ethics violation, announced earlier this month, for accepting large corporations' gifts in 2018, nearly cost him a primary win against former state House Speaker Andrew Romanoff, who ran on a progressive agenda. 

In another marque race, John Huntsman’s bid against Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox to become Utah governor was still too close to call Wednesday morning. Their GOP primary race was a statistical tie going into Tuesday’s balloting. 

Huntsman is a former Utah governor, former presidential candidate and U.S. ambassador to China and Russia.