A political action committee for scientists hopes to compel former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper to abandon his presidential hopes and run for U.S. Senate in 2020.

314 Action Fund launched a website — DraftHickForSenate.com — on Tuesday. The PAC will also run online ads, collect donations and recruit teams of volunteers for the Democratic former governor. Its national network of scientists will be asked to urge Hickenlooper to run for Senate.

“I think there’s one candidate who can beat Cory Gardner and send (Senate Majority Leader) Mitch McConnell into the minority and it’s John Hickenlooper,” said Josh Morrow, the 314 Action Fund’s executive director.

“You’re going to start seeing digital ads all over Denver, all over the country, and people signing up to join his campaign,” Morrow added. “The idea is to have for him, the day he announces, a strong grassroots network.”

On the Draft Hick website, supporters can donate as much as $2,800 to a fund. If Hickenlooper runs for Senate, money in that account will be sent to his campaign the day he announces. If he does not join the Senate race, the money would be refunded to donors, organizers said.

Hickenlooper is currently running for president, not Senate, and has shrugged off suggestions he challenge Gardner, R-Yuma. But he has not ruled it out entirely. Though Hickenlooper has said he isn’t cut out to be a senator, some advisers have urged him to switch to the Senate race.

“I just see this as doing a greater service to the country,” Morrow said of running for Senate, “than running for president and being president.”

The 314 Action Fund also paid for a poll of 739 Colorado voters, conducted Aug. 8-11 by Public Policy Polling, that found Hickenlooper leading Gardner in a hypothetical head-to-head contest, 51% to 38%. The margin of error was 3.6%.

Hickenlooper’s presidential campaign did not comment on the draft effort Monday.

314 Action previously drafted Mark Kelly, a former astronaut, to run for U.S. Senate in Arizona and is backing several other scientists running for Congress. Hickenlooper is a former geologist.

“As a scientist, John has a proven track record of getting things done in Colorado,” Morrow said. “He worked across party lines and brought some real progressive change to the state, expanding access to health care and enacting gun violence prevention laws.”

There are currently 11 Democrats running for Senate in Colorado, and there is already a scientist in that large field: Trish Zornio, a neuroscientist. Zornio says she was the Colorado state coordinator for 314 Action before running for Senate, but won’t be endorsed by the PAC because she hasn’t raised enough money.

“Unfortunately, 314 Action is politics as usual, and money wins,” Zornio said. “This is exactly what I’m trying to change.”