GOP Sen. Gardner 18 points behind Democrat Hickenlooper in Colorado Senate poll

Sen. Cory Gardner's (R-Colo.) seat is growing increasingly rocky.

Gardner is up for re-election in the swing state of Colorado, likely facing Democratic former governor and ex-presidential candidate John Hickenlooper this fall. And in a hypothetical matchup of the two candidates, Hickenlooper has a major advantage, a poll from Democratic firms in Colorado released Wednesday shows.

Hickenlooper gets 54 percent of the vote to Gardner's 36 percent in a head-to-head contest, Colorado Politics reports via a Keating-Onsight-Melanson poll of likely voters. The Democratic firms' last poll from October showed Hickenlooper with an 11 point lead, getting 53 percent support to Gardner's 42 percent. The more recent poll shows Gardner with a 53 percent unfavorability rating among respondents, while 60 percent said they view Democratic Gov. Jared Polis favorably.

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The poll also gives former Vice President Joe Biden a solid lead over President Trump in the presidential election, with 55 percent support to Trump's 35 percent. Hillary Clinton won Colorado in 2016.

Keating Research surveyed 600 likely Colorado voters online from May 1-3, with a 4 percent margin of error.