Gardner: 'We've Got A Lot Of Work To Do'
DENVER (CBS4)- Republican Cory Gardner is talking about getting started on what he calls "...a lot of work" after defeating Democrat incumbent Mark Udall on Tuesday.
Gardner talked about the election results with CBS4 Morning News Britt Moreno Wednesday morning. He said he believes what happened in this election is because voters wanted to see results, not hear about why things are not happening.
"The American people go to work each and every day whether it's their family or whether it's their actual job or employment and they do what they're supposed to do. They do what's required of them and they're frustrated with Washington, D.C. that they hire people every two years, every six years to go do their job and they don't. And they're sick of it," said Gardner. "And that's what last night was about, it was about making sure that we change directions and put people in who are going to get that job done."
The race, one of the most expensive in the nation at nearly $70 million, was considered vital to the Republican Party's attempt to wrest control of the Senate from Democrats. The GOP needed to net six Senate seats to win the chamber, and with Gardner's victory, CBS News estimated that Republicans will take control.
Gardner believes that Democrats and Republicans can work together.
"We've got to put solutions on the president's desk. We have to make sure that we are working together, finding ideas that not only unite Colorado's voices but unite the people in Washington behind ideas that will actually work that the president can agree to that will move our country forward," said Gardner.
"The president himself said that his policies were on the ballot so part of this election has to be about whether or not they liked those policies. But in two years, election night in two years, if we don't put policies on the president's desk the American people agree to or like, the same election night will occur just the other way, two years from now."
Gardner also believes that the Republicans have a duty to live up to their campaign promises.
"I don't think you can take last night as a mandate for Republicans or a mandate against Democrats but you can take it as a mandate against dysfunction and the status quo. The fact is when the people of this country, not just Colorado, speak and say, 'We're tired of it,' they did it to Republicans in 2008, they did it to Democrats in 2010, and so we see these cycles and the people are more and more willing to have their voices heard and say, 'You know what, it's not working and enough's enough,'" said Gardner.