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DENVER (KDVR) — Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper has been elected to the United States Senate, Fox News says.

Hickenlooper, a Democrat, defeated Republican Sen. Cory Gardner in one of the most expensive and widely watched Senate races in the country. 

Gardner was trailing Hickenlooper in recent polls by approximately eight points, according to FiveThirtyEight. In fact, given the likelihood of a Hickenlooper victory, both Republicans and Democrats recently withdrew campaign spending from the race. 

Gardner was first elected to the Senate in 2014. This was his first reelection effort. 

Hickenlooper began running for Senate after a short-lived campaign for U.S. president. He dropped out of that race in August 2019. 

Before running for president, Hickenlooper served as Colorado’s governor for two terms. Prior to that, he was mayor of Denver. 

During Hickenlooper’s Senate campaign, a state ethics commission found he violated the state’s gift ban in two of six complaints filed against him. His campaign called the complaints a “political smear.”