[4] This race was one of two Republican-held U.S. Senate seats up for election in 2020 in a state President Trump lost in 2016; the other was in Maine.

However, Gardner did manage to outperform Donald Trump in the concurrent presidential election by roughly four points.

[7] This became the first election Gardner had lost in his political career as well as being the widest margin of loss for a Coloradan U.S.

Gardner was widely considered vulnerable in 2020 due to Colorado's recent Democratic trend and his support for Trump.

The Democratic nominee, former governor John Hickenlooper, had a consistent double-digit lead over Gardner in the polls.

[12][13] Various minor scandals in the days leading up to the June 30 Democratic primary sparked speculation that Romanoff might win, but Hickenlooper had an advantage in name recognition, and harsh negative attacks by Romanoff reportedly led many state Democrats and voters to sour on him.

Hickenlooper withdrew from the assembly process soon afterward, choosing to qualify for the ballot exclusively by petition.

[citation needed] Gardner did well in the typically red El Paso County, home of Colorado Springs.