Boasting that anything Colorado is better than what New York offers is a favorite pastime for Republicans who like sticking it to “East Coast liberals.”

But pizza, too?

“The best pizza on earth is in downtown Yuma, Colorado,” gushed Republican Congressman Cory Gardner during a recent sit-down interview from inside his Greenwood Village campaign office.

Really?

“It's a place called the Paper Moon,” he said. “I'm a firm believer. And I think it's April when they have their asparagus pizza. It's like out of this world. They don't have it now, but it's awesome.”

Gardner doesn't need any arm-twisting to talk about his hometown — as evidenced by the Yuma history lesson he provided while pointing to areas of interest on a Colorado map at the conclusion of the interview.

But Gardner's challenge in November is to win a political office that covers more than Yuma and the rest of the conservative 4th Congressional District he has represented since winning the seat in 2010. He is seeking to become the state's next senator and to do so, he must take down the incumbent Democrat, Sen. Mark Udall.

Many politicians would love to bottle Gardner's energy and enthusiasm on the campaign trail. And he is widely considered a rising star in the GOP, which needs all the rising stars it can get in a swing state like Colorado.

But Gardner has liabilities, Democrats believe, and the Udall campaign and outside groups have spent the entire campaign highlighting Gardner's challenges in answering questions about issues that include women's reproductive rights, immigration and climate change.

Gardner says he opposes a state ballot “personhood” measure that would essentially ban abortions, but his name still appears on a federal anti-abortion effort. It's an issue that Gardner has had to fight back against for several months as millions of dollars in television ad money has been spent by his opponents in an effort to define him.

On immigration, Gardner is against provisions that would allow a path to citizenship for undocumented workers. Still, in August, Gardner voted against his own party on a bill that sought to end an Obama Administration program that shields young undocumented immigrants from deportation.

Udall has said that Gardner “hasn't lifted a finger” to get immigration reform moving and neither have his House Republican colleagues. Gardner says Democrats are the ones holding back true immigration reform.

And, on issues concerning the environment, Gardner has struggled to answer questions over the role humans have had in affecting climate change.

During an Oct. 6 Denver Post-sponsored debate, Gardner was asked “do you believe humans are contributing significantly to climate change?”

Gardner said he's believed “all along” that climate change is real. But when pressed to answer the yes or no question, Gardner pushed back, saying, “This is an important issue and I don't think you can say yes or no.”

During the interview with Colorado Community Media, Gardner again said that he believes the climate is changing and then pivoted to his disagreements with Udall on energy issues.

When asked to what extent humans are contributing to climate change, Gardner refused to answer the question directly and said the onus is on scientists to answer that question.

“Again, I think there's scientists who may differ on that,” he said. “Again, go to the scientists and ask them.”

But Gardner believes that the Democratic playbook of painting conservatives as extremists on certain issues is no longer working, especially on women's issues. Although Gardner is pro-life, he has touted a policy that would allow women to get contraceptives over the counter, without a prescription.

Gardner said Udall is a “social issues warrior” who only talks about women's issues because it was successful in Sen. Michael Bennet's 2010 campaign and because Udall can't talk about the economy, energy or the Affordable Care Act because they are not winning issues for him.

“He has to run away from all of those (policy positions), so the only thing he can talk about is to try to use a playbook that was used four years ago,” Gardner said. “The people of Colorado have seen through it. They're tired of it.”

Gardner has spent much of his campaign attacking Udall for having supported President Barack Obama's policies “99 percent of the time.”

He has long-called for the repeal of Obamacare and has tried to anchor Udall to Obama, whose low approval ratings have posed a challenge for Democratic office seekers.

Udall, who voted for Obamacare, has hammered at Gardner for failing to offer solutions on health care and has said that Gardner only cares about repealing the law, while offering no alternative.

Gardner touts his backing of a measure that bans health insurance companies from rejecting coverage for those with pre-existing conditions — a key component of Obamacare — but says, “It didn't take a 2,700-page partisan bill to do that.”

He also said that tort reform would help curb health insurance costs and said that Congress can find a solution to make sure that those who have since qualified for Medicaid under Obamacare will still be covered once the health care act is repealed.

“Over half of Coloradans oppose Obamacare,” he said. “I think it is something that will continue to be part of this campaign.”

Through the rough-and-tumble of this campaign, Gardner continues to come across as affable. And regardless of how voters respond, the town of Yuma has his back.

“I live in a town where the high school is doing a cheer, 'Vote for Cory,' ” he said. “So, it's a very supportive community.”​