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Partisan politics have found their way into elections across the country as Election Day draws nearer and the GOP-controlled Senate pushes to confirm Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court just days before Nov. 3.
The Senate race in Colorado remains tight between Republican Sen. Cory Gardner (R) and Democratic challenger, former Gov. John Hickenlooper, as GOP members of the Senate Judiciary Committee voted to advance the appointment of Barrett Thursday.
Gardner is expected to vote in favor of confirming Barrett Monday, when the vote heads to the Senate floor.
Chairman Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., moved forward with a vote Thursday, despite the boycott by Democrats on the committee – prompting Graham to break the committee’s rules, which require at least two members of the minority party to be present in order to have a quorum to “transact” business.
“Donald Trump's Supreme Court nominee is headed to the Senate for a full vote,” Hickenlooper said in a tweet Thursday. “Cory Gardner will vote yes. And we'll vote him out.”
Democrats are opposed to the nomination of a third Supreme Court justice under President Trump for several reasons, though one of the leading factors is their concern over the security of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which Barrett has previously condemned.
Gardner drew criticism after he announced that he would vote to confirm Barrett to the Supreme Court despite having agreed to block President Obama’s nominee, Merrick Garland in March 2015, citing concerns over appointing a Supreme Court justice during an election year.
Hickenlooper has used Gardner's stance as an opportunity to paint the Republican as a yes-man for Trump.
DEMOCRATS BOYCOTTING AMY CONEY BARRETT HEARING DECRY VOTE AS A 'SHAM'
“Cory Gardner and Donald Trump are trying to take away your health care,” the former governor wrote in a Tweet Thursday, following the Senate Judiciary Committee’s vote.
Democratic concerns over the fate of the ACA are likely to be heightened following the partial release of a "60 Minutes" interview Trump had with Leslie Stahl earlier this week, in which the president said he “hoped” the Supreme Court would overturn the federal healthcare act.
“I hope that they end it,” Trump said in clip released by the White House. “It’ll be so good if they end it.”
The Supreme Court has become a major campaign sticking point for candidates on the right and the left.
Healthcare has become an even bigger issue in the 2020 race as Democrats have tried to galvanize voters by warning against the threat of a Supreme Court being able to overthrow the ACA.
In return, Republicans have been able to rally voter turnout by pushing the fact that some Democrats have said they will pack the court if they win the Senate.
Hickenlooper has continuously reiterated on social media that Gardner voted against the ACA 13 times since taking office in 2014.
Gardner has leaned heavily on Hickenlooper’s indefinite stance on whether or not he would “pack the court.”
Gardner’s decision to side with Trump and vote in favor of confirming Barrett to the Supreme Court while in a tight race in a state that has trended blue may have damaged his chance of retaining his seat.
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Two days after making his announcement in support of Barrett, Cooks Political Report, a nonpartisan election handicapper, said the tide had shifted in Colorado and moved the Senate race from a “toss up” to “lean Democrat.”
Hickenlooper is leading in the latest polls by a least eight points, according to Real Clear Politics.
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