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Seven new members of Congress to watch

With the 2014 midterm elections all but wrapped up, the Monitor looks at which new members of Congress could make the most waves.

5. Cory Gardner

Brennan Linsley/AP
Senator-elect, US Rep. Cory Gardner (R) of Colorado delivers his victory speech in Denver Tuesday.

Rep. Cory Gardner has topped incumbent Sen. Mark Udall (D) in a state – Colorado – that was thought to be trending away from Republicans.

The GOP establishment is bullish on Mr. Gardner, and in a way his career trajectory is one the Republican Party will hope to replicate. His positive messaging and centrist calls for compromise and bipartisanship to break Washington gridlock appear to have got through to voters.

Conservative columnist George Will has described Gardner as "cherubic" and "a human beam of sunshine." Gardner's successful campaign was marked by his ability to walk the tightrope between his party's conservative base and his state's increasingly bluish hue. In an interview with New York Magazine, he used the example of energy to describe how he has tried to break down partisanship in D.C.

"I’ve tried to convince members of my party that we should not allow the hair on the backs of our necks to bristle every time somebody mentions renewable energy," he said.

Gardner was elected to the House of Representatives on the tea party wave of 2010, and in 2012 National Journal ranked him as the 10th most conservative member of the House. But Gardner has said he's since moved away from that brand of conservatism – and last year he dropped to 98th in the National Journal rankings.

Now in control of the Senate and the House, Republicans are speaking of the need to build legislative achievements so that a potential Republican presidential candidate can show what conservative governance looks like. In that way, Gardner's brand of cooperation and pragmatism could be put to the test.

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Mark Sappenfield
Editor

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