Coloradans favor Democratic U.S. Senate candidate John Hickenlooper over Republican incumbent Sen. Cory Gardner by a wide margin, according to a poll released Wednesday. Those surveyed also prefer presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden over Republican President Donald Trump.
Gov. Jared Polis’s approval rating rose significantly in the past year, the poll found, with two-thirds of Colorado voters surveyed now saying they have a favorable opinion of the first-term Democratic governor. His approval was at 50% in June 2019. A large majority of voters also approved of restrictions put in place by the state and some counties to control spread of the coronavirus.
Keating Research, OnSight Public Affairs and Mike Melanson conducted the poll, and the results are based on a sample of 600 Coloradans who took online surveys May 1-3, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4%. The firms are Democratic, and Melanson worked for a previous Hickenlooper campaign.
Hickenlooper, who is one of at least two candidates in the Democratic primary for the Senate, led Gardner 54% to 36% among likely voters surveyed, with 9% undecided. The former governor’s lead increased to 58% vs. 28% among unaffiliated voters, with 12% undecided.
The poll didn’t mention Andrew Romanoff, another Democrat seeking to take on Gardner via the June 30 primary.
“We tested Hickenlooper, as he is the overwhelming favorite to win the Democratic nomination,” said Curtis Hubbard of OnSight Public Affairs.
The results echo those of the Western States Coronavirus Survey, which found in an online poll of 503 Coloradans last month that Hickenlooper led Gardner by 17 points. The earlier poll was conducted April 10-27 by the University of Denver’s Center on American Politics and Montana State University-Bozeman and had a 4.4% margin of error.
The Keating-OnSight-Melanson poll shows Biden leading Trump by 19 points — 55% to 36%, with 6% undecided and 3% preferring another candidate. The Western states survey had Biden polling at 53% support in Colorado to Trump’s 35%.
The Keating poll also asked voters about the biggest issue of the day: coronavirus. The governor’s safer-at-home order garnered bipartisan support, with 68% of respondents in favor and 21% opposed. Six Denver metro counties that extended their stricter stay-at-home orders into May were supported by 78% of voters in those counties, according to poll results.
A majority of the respondents — 78% — also agreed that face masks should be required.
Chris Keating of Keating Research said the approval ratings for Polis and support for other Democrats — including 69% approval of Denver Mayor Michael Hancock’s handling of the coronavirus — are indicative of Coloradans’ frustrations with the president and the federal response to the public health crisis.
“Colorado voters want someone who’s pragmatic and gets things done, and they’re just fed up with Trump, and that’s what we’re seeing here,” he said.
Reporter Jon Murray contributed to this story.
