incumbent Republican Cory Gardner. He defeated Gardner by 9 points and took office on January 3, 2021. Tenure In the wake of the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol, Hickenlooper said he would support efforts to remove Donald Trump from office, in line with most of his party. Committee assignments Committee on Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining Subcommittee on Water and Power Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Subcommittee on Children and Families Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety (Chair) Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation Subcommittee on Aviation Safety, Operations, and Innovation Subcommittee on Communications, Media, and Broadband Subcommittee on Space and Science (Chair) Subcommittee on Tourism, Trade and Export Promotion Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship 2020 presidential campaign On March 4, 2019, Hickenlooper announced his campaign to seek the Democratic nomination for president of the United States in 2020. His candidacy had been a matter of media speculation for months before his announcement. Hickenlooper formally launched his campaign on March 7, 2019, in Denver, Colorado. A video titled "Stand Tall" was released to announce the campaign and outline his reasons for running. Hickenlooper formed Giddy Up PAC in 2018 in anticipation of a presidential campaign, raising more than $600,000 in the midterm cycle. The campaign struggled to gain traction in the crowded and increasingly competitive Democratic presidential primary field, and Hickenlooper ended his candidacy in a YouTube video on August 15, 2019. Political positions Capital punishment In 2013, a campaign sought clemency for Nathan Dunlap, a black man facing execution for the 1993 murder of four people, with three former jurors saying they would not have voted for the death penalty had they known of his undiagnosed mental illness, while the mother of a victim, a former co-worker of Dunlap, and the Arapahoe County District Attorney urged Hickenlooper to let the execution take place. Hickenlooper granted Dunlap a reprieve, reversible by a future governor, citing inequity in the legal system and the evidence against capital punishment's effectiveness as a deterrent, saying, "It is a legitimate question whether we as a state should be taking lives". In Hickenlooper's 2016 memoir, he came out against the death penalty, saying his views had changed after he became more familiar with the research showing bias against minorities and people with mental illnesses. Disaster recovery In May 2014, Hickenlooper signed five