Clark Atlanta University graduate Stephany Rose Spaulding has announced her intention to unseat Republican Senator Cory Gardner in Colorado.

Spaulding, a Chicago native and professor at the University of Colorado, has pledged that her campaign will be centered around energy independence, climate change and the protection of Black, immigrant and LGBTQ communities.

“There are a number of candidates that feel for those who are under attack from this administration,” Spaulding said of her campaign, “but I am a candidate actually living the impact of dehumanizing policies and morally inept leadership.”

Spaulding has run for public office before. During the 2018 midterm elections, she proved unsuccessful in her attempt to defeat Republican Representative Doug Lamborn, receiving only 39 percent of the vote. She did, however, receive a notable endorsement during that campaign when “Ben & Jerry's” named their Rock Mountain Rose flavor in her honor.

“I am in community, I have been in community, and people recognize that,” she said to the Colorado Springs Gazette. “The [House] race created a foundation that propels us into this Senate race.”


The field of Democrats running in the upcoming Senate race has gotten crowded, with six candidates having announced their runs and more rumored to join. Spaulding is the fourth woman and second African American to join the race in a state that has never elected either to Senate.

“I’ve never been scared of challenges, obviously,” she said. “There is an absolute need for Democrats to win this seat. It is going to take someone with the infrastructure, as well as the people power to inspire new hope for Colorado, to win this seat, which is why I’m running.”

The incumbent, Sen. Gardner, is one of only two Republican Senators running for reelection in states won by Hillary Clinton in 2016.

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