“I guess the news is this: If you're a Republican and you smile, liberals don't like it. Maybe that's because Democrats are afraid that I've been able to show an optimistic vision for this country.”

American attorney and politician

Cory Scott Gardner is an American attorney and politician who served as a United States senator from Colorado from 2015 to 2021. A Republican, he also represented Colorado’s 4th congressional district in the U.S. House from 2011 to 2015 and served in the Colorado House of Representatives from 2005 to 2011. He is known for his work in state and federal office across more than a decade of public service. He became Colorado’s last Republican to serve in the U.S. Senate, as of 2026, and is associated with the political career that carried him from the state legislature to Congress.