John Hickenlooper and Mark Baisley on the issues
Democratic U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper is running for reelection in Colorado this year against Republican state Sen. Mark Baisley.
Hickenlooper, 74, served as Denver’s mayor from 2003 to 2011 and as governor of Colorado from 2011 to 2019. He ran for president in 2020 before switching to the U.S. Senate race, where he unseated Republican U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner. Before entering politics, Hickenlooper was a restaurateur.
Baisley, 71, was elected to the state Senate in 2022. He previously served as a state representative. Before entering politics, the Woodland Park resident worked in technology, aerospace and defense, including at Raytheon and Martin Marietta, now known as Lockheed Martin.
Also on the ballot are a group of minor-party candidates: Bob Chew of the Forward Party, Christopher Baum of the Approval Voting Party, Blake Huber of the Libertarian Party and Adam Withrow of the Unity Party.
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The Colorado Sun interviewed Baisley and Hickenlooper to see where they stand on the economy, healthcare, immigration and other top issues.
Here are their answers.
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TAX POLICY
Name a tax cut in H.R. 1, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, you would make permanent and one you would do away with or change.
John Hickenlooper
DEMOCRAT
“I’m a restaurant guy, so I’d make permanent the the tax break for tipped employees.” Hickenlooper said he would reimpose the higher federal income tax rates on the nation’s biggest earners that were reduced by the measure.
Mark Baisley
REPUBLICAN
Baisley said he loves that the bill made permanent nearly all of the federal income tax cuts in the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which was passed by Republicans in Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump. He did not name a tax cut provision in H.R. 1 (the One Big Beautiful Bill Act) that he’d do away with. “I’m appreciative of everything that I’ve seen in that bill.”
MEDICAID
Do you support or oppose the Medicaid work requirements imposed by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act?
John Hickenlooper
DEMOCRAT
Hickenlooper opposes the work requirements. “They’re punitive. They treat people going through difficult parts of their lives like they’re somehow corrupt.”
Mark Baisley
REPUBLICAN
Baisley said he supports the work requirements and that it should be considered a success whenever someone comes off Medicaid and a failure every time someone is enrolled in the health insurance program for low income and disabled people. He said he is concerned that the work requirements may prevent people who need the program from accessing it, “but this is not a zero-sum game.”
HEALTHCARE
If you could wave a magic wand, how would you change the healthcare system in the U.S.?
John Hickenlooper
DEMOCRAT
Hickenlooper said he would have “total transparency” in healthcare pricing to boost competitiveness by making it easier for consumers to shop around for services. He also supports a public health insurance option, though he doesn’t think private health insurance should be eliminated.
Mark Baisley
REPUBLICAN
Baisley said he supports Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Scott’s “More Affordable Care Act,” which would shift federal healthcare subsidies to consumers and away from health insurance companies. If he could introduce his own legislation, Baisley said he would push for a payment system that relies on consumer-funded and tax-exempt health savings accounts for routine care and try to limit insurance use for catastrophic events. “I think we all need to accept that there is a level of generally predictable care that we should just account for in our personal budgets.”
TARIFFS
Do you support the tariffs Donald Trump has imposed or tried to impose on imports?
John Hickenlooper
DEMOCRAT
“No. I think the tariffs have been a significant drag on our economy and have been especially harmful to ranchers and farmers across the country.”
Mark Baisley
REPUBLICAN
Baisley said he is generally in favor of tariffs. “I would like to see tariffs replace income tax. In my observation, taxing income was one of the country’s poorest historical decisions. Requiring every adult to personally account for their income and settle up with ‘the state’s share’ creates enmity between the government and its citizens.”
CLIMATE CHANGE
Do you think the U.S. should stop using carbon-emitting sources of electricity, heating and transportation? If yes, by when? And if not, how would you propose battling climate change?
John Hickenlooper
DEMOCRAT
“I think the only way to battle climate change long term is to transition to clean energy, and that means not having carbon emissions.” Hickenlooper said there are many ways that transition can be accomplished, citing promising advancements in geothermal energy and nonradioactive nuclear fusion. In the meantime, he said natural gas use will be necessary to respond to the growing energy needs for technology like artificial intelligence. As for when the transition should be complete, “I think with the right leadership we could easily make 2050.”
Mark Baisley
REPUBLICAN
“No, I don’t think we should stop using carbon-emitting” sources. But Baisley said he supports efforts to minimize humans’ impact on the climate and improve the environment, including government investment in clean energy research, particularly hydrogen and nuclear power. He highlighted his unsuccessful work in the state legislature to allow for the return of uranium mining in western Colorado. “Let’s get back on the nuclear track and just do that very safely.”
LEGAL IMMIGRATION
Do you think that the U.S. provides enough pathways for people to legally immigrate to America?
John Hickenlooper
DEMOCRAT
Hickenlooper said “yes,” though he thinks those pathways are “being dismantled and in many cases ignored by the present administration.”
Mark Baisley
REPUBLICAN
“Absolutely, yes.” Baisley said the currently allowed levels of legal immigration to the U.S. ensure that America is admitting vetted people who have job skills, will be self-sustaining and want to assimilate.
ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION
Should anyone who’s already living in the U.S. illegally be permitted to stay?
John Hickenlooper
DEMOCRAT
Hickenlooper said people who have been working and paying taxes should at the very least be given a guest-worker visa. He thinks there should also be a pathway to citizenship for people protected from deportation under the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, or DACA, program. “There are a number of other ways that people can get pathways to citizenship, and I’m open to looking at those. I think the most important thing is to recognize that right now we’re arresting people who have families, they own property, they are part of our economy.”
Mark Baisley
REPUBLICAN
“No. We should not be the relief valve for all the dysfunctional countries around the world.”
UKRAINE
Should the U.S. provide more financial and military aid to Ukraine to help it fight Russia? And if yes, should that money come with conditions or other strings attached?
John Hickenlooper
DEMOCRAT
“I think we should support Ukraine. They are our ally. We share a common enemy in Russia.” Hickenlooper said he didn’t have specific conditions in mind, but that the United States should always set conditions for military aid “where appropriate.”
Mark Baisley
REPUBLICAN
“Yes, and it should come with conditions.” Baisley said he wants assurances that Ukrainians will have First Amendment-type liberties and other similar rights and protections afforded to Americans by the U.S. Constitution. “But I do think that we should supply Ukraine with the weapons that keep them from being taken over by Russia because I think that would be bad for everybody.”
ISRAEL
Should the U.S. provide more financial and military aid to Israel? And if yes, should that money come with conditions or other strings attached?
John Hickenlooper
DEMOCRAT
“Israel is more problematic in that we’ve had such a tragedy in Gaza and we see serious issues on the West Bank. Israel is one of our oldest allies — certainly our strongest ally — in the Middle East. But I’m guarded against giving them more offensive weapons and munitions. I think we should focus on making sure that they can defend themselves.”
Mark Baisley
REPUBLICAN
“Yes and yes.” Baisley said Israel should not be allowed to take independent actions in the Middle East that disrupt relationships and agreements that the U.S. has in the region.
IRAN
How do you think Trump has handled the war in Iran? And what do you think should be done to end it?
John Hickenlooper
DEMOCRAT
Hickenlooper called the war “reckless” and said Trump had “no plan, no strategy going in.” He said one of the major consequences is how the conflict has shown Iran the global power it has in closing the Strait of Hormuz, a major oil and gas shipping route. As for how to end the conflict, Hickenlooper said the first step is replacing Trump’s negotiators with people who have more experience in international diplomacy. At a minimum, Hickenlooper would like to see an agreement that ensured inspectors can travel wherever they want in Iran to make sure the country isn’t developing a nuclear weapon. “Ultimately, we’ve got to make sure that Iran doesn’t have a nuclear bomb and is not going to have a nuclear weapon.”
Mark Baisley
REPUBLICAN
“I think it’s been handled very well, actually. We’ve been at war with Iran for at least 47 years, although we have not been participating in that war. They’ve just been attacking us over and over and over. I appreciate that this administration has stood up to the international bullies.” (The U.S. has been at odds with Iran since the 1979 hostage crisis.)
AI
Should Congress regulate artificial intelligence? If so, how?
John Hickenlooper
DEMOCRAT
Yes. Hickenlooper would like to see third-party evaluators overseeing AI work, assurances that AI developers can be sued for any damages their products cause and protections for people’s private data. “AI has tremendous promise, but we’ve also heard some very sobering stories. I think the American people are right to demand that we have some sort of protection.”
Mark Baisley
REPUBLICAN
“Yes, but lightly.” Baisley said there should be protections against discrimination by AI and efforts to prevent it from being maliciously used in pornography and through so-called deepfakes. When it comes to super intelligence, “I don’t know what the regulation is because it’s still an evolving technology.”
DATA CENTERS
Should Congress play a role in regulating data centers or should that be a local decision?
John Hickenlooper
DEMOCRAT
“I’m not in favor of the federal government taking that away. “
Mark Baisley
REPUBLICAN
“I think it’s a local decision.” Baisley said concerns over data centers’ water consumption are overblown because they use closed-loop systems. When it comes to electricity use, he said data centers need to pay for it but shouldn’t be treated differently than other power consumers. (Not all data centers use closed-loop systems.)
TERM LIMITS
Should there be term limits for members of Congress and/or the Supreme Court?
John Hickenlooper
DEMOCRAT
Yes and yes. Hickenlooper said senators should be limited to two terms and members of the U.S. House should be limited to between four and six terms. He’d be open to terms of up to 18 years for members of the Supreme Court as long as they are staggered so that no single president could appoint all of the panel’s judges.
Mark Baisley
REPUBLICAN
Baisley said he’d be open to a term limit of 12 to 18 years for members of Congress but that there shouldn’t be term limits for Supreme Court justices.
2028 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION
If the 2028 presidential election were held today, who would you like to see as your party’s nominee?
John Hickenlooper
DEMOCRAT
“I can’t pick just one because I know so many of the candidates so well and have such respect for them.” Hickenlooper mentioned that his short list includes U.S. Sens. Mark Kelly, Elizabeth Warren and Jon Ossoff, as well as Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.
Mark Baisley
REPUBLICAN
“I really love, in this order, Marco Rubio. In close second: Ron DeSantis from Florida. And then Vice President J.D. Vance. I think they’re all tremendous.”
