Midterm elections 2014: Cory Gardner vs. Mark Udall in Colorado

In Colorado, Republican Congressman Cory Gardner hopes to unseat Democratic Senator Mark Udall in a race that highlights the state’s geographic and cultural divisions.

Cory Gardner represents the eastern, rural part of Colorado in the US House, while Mark Udall is a first-term senator from the liberal enclave of Boulder. According to the political forecasting website 538.com, the ideological divide between the two candidates is the largest of any competitive Senate race.

Mark Udall, the son of long-time liberal Democratic Congressman Mo Udall, ran Outward Bound, a company that sponsors outdoor activities for children and teens and spent ten years in the House of Representatives before his election to the Senate in 2008. He has focused his race on the environment and his experience working with both senators of both parties, and has sought to portray Cory Gardner as an extremist, particularly on abortion.

Cory Gardner was first elected to Congress in 2010 after representing the area in the state legislature. He hails from a prominent family of tractor dealers.

The Colorado lawmaker has attempted to moderate his conservative platform of spending cuts and increased US energy production with a pro-conservation stance to appeal to outdoor-minded Coloradans.