:John Hickenlooper

Hickenlooper was born in Narberth, Pennsylvania, a Main Line suburb of Philadelphia.{{cite magazine |author=Lizza, Ryan |author-link=Ryan Lizza |date=May 13, 2013 |title=The Middleman: Colorado's Governor Finds Himself Leading His State to the Left |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2013/05/13/the-middleman-2 |department=The Political Scene |magazine=The New Yorker |volume=89 |issue=13 |pages=26–31 |access-date=7 March 2019}} He is the son of Anne Doughten (née Morris) Kennedy and John Wright Hickenlooper.{{cite news|title=Briefing: Denver|work=Rocky Mountain News|publisher=Scripps Interactive Newspapers Group|date=April 4, 2003| url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=RM&p_theme=rm&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0FA500415EC604C5&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D|access-date=May 15, 2016 }}{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1948/05/09/archives/mrs-anne-kennedy-engaged.html | work=The New York Times | title=Mrs. Anne Kennedy Engaged | date=May 9, 1948}}{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N_XlCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA21 |title=The Opposite of Woe: My Life in Beer and Politics|first1=John|last1=Hickenlooper|first2=Maximillian|last2=Potter|date=May 24, 2016|publisher=Penguin|via=Google Books|isbn=978-1-101-98168-9}} His great-grandfather Andrew Hickenlooper was a Union general, and his grandfather Smith Hickenlooper was a United States federal judge.{{cite news |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140506031310/http://blogs.denverpost.com/ostrow/2014/05/01/gov-hickenlooper-civil-war-untold-story/18490/ |url=http://blogs.denverpost.com/ostrow/2014/05/01/gov-hickenlooper-civil-war-untold-story/18490/|title=Gov. Hickenlooper "Civil War: The Untold Story|access-date=July 16, 2016|archive-date=May 6, 2014}}{{cite book |last1=Hickenlooper |first1=John |author-link1=John Hickenlooper |last2=Potter |first2=Maximillian |year=2016 |title=The Opposite of Woe, My Life in Beer and Politics |location=New York |publisher=Penguin Press |pages=37,112}} A cousin, Bourke B. Hickenlooper, a Republican known as "Hick", was governor of Iowa from 1943 to 1945 and a U.S. senator from Iowa from 1945 to 1969.{{cite news |last1=Chacon |first1=Daniel J. |title=Senator Hickenlooper? It's happened before |url=https://www.vaildaily.com/news/senator-hickenlooper-its-happened-before/ |access-date=12 August 2024 |work=www.vaildaily.com |date=24 December 2008}}

Hickenlooper was raised by his mother from a young age after his father's death. He is a 1970 graduate of The Haverford School, an independent boys school in Haverford, Pennsylvania, where he was a National Merit Scholarship Semifinalist. New York magazine reported that at this time his heroes were Neil Young, Ray Davies, and Gordie Howe, and that his pet peeves were violence and "beer boys.""Meet the Class of 2020's Overachievers," New York, April 1–14, 2019, p. 13

Hickenlooper attended Wesleyan University, where he received a B.A. in English in 1974 and a master's degree in geology in 1980.{{cite news|last=Bedingfield |first=Steve |title=How Old is John Hickenlooper? |url=http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/10/13/how-old-is-john-hickenlooper/ |access-date=September 30, 2011 |newspaper=Politics Daily |date=October 13, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101029010224/http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/10/13/how-old-is-john-hickenlooper/ |archive-date=October 29, 2010 }}{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/0/john-hickenlooper-2020-democratic-us-election/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220112/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/0/john-hickenlooper-2020-democratic-us-election/ |archive-date=January 12, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Democrats 2020: John Hickenlooper, geologist turned brewer with eyes on the White House|last=Millward|first=David|date=2019-06-27|work=The Telegraph|access-date=2019-08-24|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}}{{cbignore}} He recounted first smoking pot when he was 16 and using lithium carbonate capsules to go through with his final exam.{{Cite web|last=Frank|first=John|date=2016-05-24|title=Gov. John Hickenlooper reveals secrets in book that puts him in national spotlight|url=https://www.denverpost.com/2016/05/23/colorado-governor-john-hickenlooper-reveals-his-secrets-in-a-new-book-that-puts-him-in-national-political-spotlight/|access-date=2021-04-16|website=The Denver Post|language=en-US}}

Hickenlooper worked as a geologist in Colorado for Buckhorn Petroleum in the early 1980s. When Buckhorn was sold, Hickenlooper was laid off in 1986.{{cite web | url=https://www.politico.com/arena/bio/gov_john_hickenlooper.html | title =Arena Profile: Gov. John Hickenlooper | author =Politico | publisher =politico.com | year =2011| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20180716082335/https://www.politico.com/arena/bio/gov_john_hickenlooper.html | archive-date =July 16, 2018 | author-link =Politico }} He and five business partners opened the Wynkoop Brewing Company brewpub in October 1988 after raising startup funds from dozens of friends and family along with a Denver economic development office loan. The Wynkoop was one of the nation's first brewpubs. By 1996, Westword reported that Denver had more brewpubs per capita than any other city.{{Cite news|url=https://www.westword.com/news/through-a-glass-darkly-5056274|title=Through a Glass, Darkly|last=Calhoun|first=Patricia|date=1996-05-02|website=Westword|access-date=2019-04-18}} Hickenlooper claims his restaurant was the first in Colorado to offer a designated driver program.{{cite book|last1=Hickenlooper|first1=John|title=The Opposite of Woe, My Life in Beer and Politics|last2=Potter|first2=Maximillian|publisher=Penguin Press|year=2016|location=New York|pages=183|author-link1=John Hickenlooper}}

In 1989, Hickenlooper was arrested in Denver for "driving while impaired" and did community service.

In 2003, Hickenlooper ran for mayor of Denver.{{cite news |last=Bohlen |first=Teague |date=August 15, 2020 |title=John Hickenlooper's Ten Greatest Political Moments |url=https://www.westword.com/news/john-hickenlooper-senate-president-greatest-political-moments-11774379 |work=Westword |location=Denver, CO}} Campaigning on his business experience, he developed a series of creative television ads that separated him from the rest of the crowded field, including one in which he addressed unhappiness over a recent increase in parking rates by walking the streets to "feed" meters. He won the election and in July 2003 he took office as Denver's 43rd mayor.{{cite news |last=Farer |first=Paola |date=July 21, 2003 |title=Hickenlooper makes more appointments |url=https://www.9news.com/article/news/hickenlooper-makes-more-appointments/73-345335970 |work=KUSA TV |location=Denver, CO}} TIME Magazine named him one of America's five best big-city mayors in 2005.{{Cite magazine|url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,1050310,00.html|title=Able Amateur|last=Fonda|first=Daren|date=2005-04-18|magazine=Time|access-date=2019-04-18|language=en-US|issn=0040-781X}}

On taking office, Hickenlooper inherited a "$70 million budget deficit, the worst in city history", which he was able to eliminate in his first term "without major service cuts or layoffs", according to Time. He won bipartisan support for a multibillion-dollar mass public transit project, intended in part to attract investment and funded by a voter-approved sales tax increase.{{cite web |last1=Johnson |first1=Fawn |title=How Denver Leaders Pulled Off a Public Transit Miracle |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/10/how-denver-leaders-pulled-off-a-public-transit-miracle/425583/ |website=The Atlantic |date=1 October 2014}}{{Cite web|last=Alberta|first=Tim|title=John Hickenlooper Is Running for President As Himself. Uh-oh.|url=https://politi.co/2FDTUA2|access-date=2019-04-18|website=POLITICO Magazine|date=March 29, 2019 |language=en}}{{cite web |last1=Whaley |first1=Monte |title=Denver is being transformed by FasTracks, 10 years after key vote |url=https://www.denverpost.com/2015/01/30/denver-is-being-transformed-by-fastracks-10-years-after-key-vote/ |website=The Denver Post |date=30 January 2015}}

In 2003, Hickenlooper announced a ten-year plan to end homelessness in Denver, citing it as one of the issues that prompted him to run for mayor.{{cite news |last1=Hadar |first1=Roey |title=Gov. John Hickenlooper: 7 things you need to know about the 2020 Democrat |url=https://www.pbs.org/weta/washingtonweek/blog-post/gov-john-hickenlooper-7-things-you-need-know-about-2020-democrat |access-date=1 July 2020 |work=Washington Week |publisher=PBS |date=March 4, 2019 |archive-date=March 4, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210304230814/https://www.pbs.org/weta/washingtonweek/blog-post/gov-john-hickenlooper-7-things-you-need-know-about-2020-democrat |url-status=dead }}{{cite news |last1=Frank |first1=John |title=Gov. Hickenlooper debuts "aggressive" new efforts to battle homelessness with marijuana tax dollars |url=https://www.denverpost.com/2016/11/27/marijuana-tax-to-fight-homelessness/ |access-date=1 July 2020 |publisher=Denver Post |date=November 27, 2016}}{{cite news |last1=Alvarez |first1=Alayna |title=Denver's never-ending road home |url=https://www.coloradopolitics.com/denver/cover-story-denvers-never-ending-road-home/article_7c10754a-3e2a-11ea-863e-e3eed9e132ec.html |access-date=1 July 2020 |publisher=Colorado Politics |date=January 29, 2020}} 280 U.S. cities announced similar plans. The effort did not end homelessness in Denver, and in 2015 Denver's city auditor "released a scathing audit faulting the plan's implementation."{{cite news |last1=de Yoanna |first1=Michael |title=What's Next After Denver's 10-Year Push To End Homelessness? |url=https://www.cpr.org/show-segment/whats-next-after-denvers-10-year-push-to-end-homelessness/ |access-date=1 July 2020 |publisher=Colorado Public Radio |date=June 24, 2015}} The head of the agency responsible defended the program, saying it was "still housing 300-400 people a month in varying ways", while Hickenlooper argued that the point of such an ambitious target was to focus attention and resources on the problem. In his governor's budget request for 2017–18, he asked lawmakers to allocate $12.3 million from taxes on marijuana to building homes for chronically homeless people.

Hickenlooper established the Denver Scholarship Foundation, providing needs-based college scholarships to high school graduates.{{cite web |last1=Garcia |first1=Nic |title=5 things to know about where John Hickenlooper stands on education |url=https://www.coloradopolitics.com/hot-sheet/5-things-to-know-about-where-john-hickenlooper-stands-on-education/article_5af8dfbe-3f70-11e9-b8cb-d34bf1738c37.html |website=Colorado Politics |language=en |date=March 5, 2019}}

In May 2007, Hickenlooper was reelected with 88% of the vote.{{cite web|url=https://www.denverpost.com/2007/05/01/hickenlooper-coasts-to-second-term/|title=Hickenlooper coasts to second term |newspaper=The Denver Post |first=George |last=Merritt |date=May 1, 2007 |access-date=July 16, 2016}} He resigned as mayor just before his inauguration as governor.

File:John Hickenlooper DNC 2008.jpg in Denver.]]

Hickenlooper was an executive member of the Denver 2008 Convention Host Committee and helped lead the successful campaign for Denver to host the 2008 Democratic National Convention, which was also the centennial anniversary of the city's hosting of the 1908 Democratic National Convention.

In a controversial move decried by critics as breaching partisan ethics, the Hickenlooper administration arranged for the DNC host committee, a private nonprofit organization, to get untaxed fuel from Denver city-owned pumps, saving them {{convert|0.404|$/USgal|$/l}}.{{cite web |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080723144804/http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jul/22/city-gives-dnc-host-committee-pass-gas-tax/ |archive-date=July 23, 2008 |url=http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/jul/22/city-gives-dnc-host-committee-pass-gas-tax/|title=DNC host's tax-free gas evaporates |work=The Rocky Mountain News }} Once the arrangement came to light, the host committee agreed to pay taxes on the fuel already consumed and on all future fuel purchases.{{cite web|url=https://www.denverpost.com/2008/07/29/no-more-city-gas-for-dnc-host-cars/ |first=Christopher N. |last=Osher |title=No more city gas for DNC host cars |newspaper=The Denver Post |date=July 29, 2008 |access-date=July 16, 2016}} Also, Coors Brewing Company, based in Golden, Colorado, used "waste beer" to provide the ethanol to power a fleet of FlexFuel vehicles used during the convention.{{cite web|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/stories/2008/05/19/daily30.html|title=Molson Coors will fuel DNC vehicles with ethanol from waste beer – Denver Business Journal|access-date=July 16, 2016}}

File:Governor John Hickenlooper.jpg

{{Main|2010 Colorado gubernatorial election}}

Hickenlooper was viewed as a possible contender for governor of Colorado in the November 2006 election to replace term-limited Republican governor Bill Owens. Despite a "Draft Hick" campaign, he announced on February 6, 2006, that he would not run for governor. Later, he supported Democratic candidate Bill Ritter, Denver's former district attorney, who was subsequently elected.{{cite web| url=http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2006/oct/19/hickenlooper-endorses-ritter-for-guv/ |date=October 19, 2006 |access-date=September 16, 2020 |title=Hickenlooper endorses Ritter for Gov |work=The Rocky Mountain News|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080915051503/http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2006/oct/19/hickenlooper-endorses-ritter-for-guv/ |archive-date=September 15, 2008 }}

After Ritter announced on January 6, 2010, that he would step down at the end of his term, Hickenlooper was cited as a potential candidate for governor.{{cite web|url=http://www.statebillnews.com/2010/01/can-you-say-gov-hickenlooper/|publisher=State Bill Colorado|date=January 6, 2010|title=Can You Say Gov. Hickenlooper?|first=Don|last=Knox|access-date=January 7, 2010|archive-date=January 9, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100109094249/http://www.statebillnews.com/2010/01/can-you-say-gov-hickenlooper/|url-status=dead}} He said that if Salazar mounted a bid for governor, he would likely not challenge him in a Democratic primary.{{cite news|url=http://www.9news.com/news/article.aspx?storyid=130211&provider=top&catid=188|agency=9 News|date=January 6, 2010|title=Colorado Governor Bill Ritter not running for re-election}} On January 7, 2010, Salazar confirmed that he would not run for governor in 2010 and endorsed Hickenlooper.{{cite news |url=https://www.denverpost.com/2010/01/07/salazar-will-not-enter-governors-race/ |title=Salazar will not enter governor's race. |work=The Denver Post |date=January 7, 2010 }} On January 12, 2010, media outlets reported that Hickenlooper would begin a campaign for governor.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.westword.com/news/john-hickenlooper-to-run-for-governor-multiple-reports-say-5878025 |first=Michael |last=Roberts |magazine=Westword|date=January 12, 2010|title=John Hickenlooper to run for governor, multiple reports say}} On August 5, 2010, he selected CSU-Pueblo president Joseph A. Garcia as his running mate.{{cite news|url=http://www.denverpost.com/ci_15690582|date=August 6, 2010|title=CSU-Pueblo chief tapped as Hickenlooper's running mate | work=The Denver Post|first1=Lynn|last1=Bartels|first2=Karen E.|last2=Crummy}} Hickenlooper was elected with 51% of the vote, ahead of former congressman Tom Tancredo, running on the American Constitution Party ticket, who finished with 36.4% of the vote.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/elections/2010/results/colorado.html |title=2010 Election Results |work=The New York Times |date=November 2010 |access-date=October 24, 2014 }}

{{Main|2014 Colorado gubernatorial election}}

Hickenlooper won a tightly contested gubernatorial election with 49% of the vote to Republican businessman and former congressman Bob Beauprez's 46%.{{cite news |first=John |last=Frank |url=https://www.denverpost.com/2014/11/05/re-elected-gov-hickenlooper-the-voters-of-colorado-have-spoken/ |title=Re-elected Gov. Hickenlooper: "The voters of Colorado have spoken" |work=The Denver Post |date=November 5, 2014 }}

On January 11, 2011, Hickenlooper was sworn in as the 42nd governor of Colorado after winning by 15 points. He was the second Denver mayor ever elected governor. His victory was a landslide despite Democrats' poor results overall in the 2010 elections. Republicans flipped twelve governorships nationwide in 2010.{{Cite web|url=https://www.5280.com/2012/07/the-happy-shrewdness-of-john-w-hickenlooper/|title=The Happy Shrewdness of John W. Hickenlooper|last=Potter|first=Maximillian|date=2012-07-24|website=5280|language=en|access-date=2019-04-18}} NPR described Hickenlooper as having a "pro-business centrist profile" and as "known to try to build consensus and compromise on tough issues", while 5280 called him as "one of those unicorn-rare, truly apolitical politicians", noting support from business leaders and some Republicans.

On December 4, 2012, Hickenlooper was elected to serve as vice chair of the Democratic Governors Association.{{cite web|url=http://www.politico.com/blogs/burns-haberman/2012/12/shumlin-elected-to-lead-dga-with-ocomartun-as-top-151078.html|title=Shumlin elected to lead DGA, with O'Comartun as top aide|website=Politico|date=December 4, 2012 |access-date=July 16, 2016}}

On August 25, 2017, it was reported that Republican Governor of Ohio John Kasich was considering the possibility of a 2020 unity ticket to run against Donald Trump, with Hickenlooper as vice president.{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/25/politics/kasich-hickenlooper-2020-unity-ticket/index.html|title=Source: Kasich, Hickenlooper consider unity presidential ticket in 2020|first=Mark|last=Preston|publisher=CNN|date=August 25, 2017}}

Constitutionally limited to two consecutive terms,{{cite web|url=https://ballotpedia.org/Governor_of_Colorado|title=Governor of Colorado|publisher =Ballotpedia}} Hickenlooper could not run for governor in 2018.

On June 5, 2020, the Colorado Independent Ethics Commission fined Hickenlooper $2,750 for twice violating Colorado's gift ban as governor.{{Cite news|last=Oldham|first=Jennifer|title=Hickenlooper violated Colorado gifts rules twice in 2018, state ethics panel says|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/hickenlooper-violated-colorado-gifts-rules-twice-in-2018-state-ethics-panel-finds/2020/06/05/7d210698-a7a2-11ea-b473-04905b1af82b_story.html|access-date=2020-08-24|newspaper=Washington Post|language=en}}{{Cite web|title=Ethics commission fines Hickenlooper $2,750 for ethics violations, Colorado taxpayers pay $127,000 in attorney fees|url=https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/local-politics/ethics-commission-fines-former-gov-john-hickenlooper-ethics-violations/73-d2e4e02a-aeed-4f08-b7fe-97a9b21c56e8|access-date=2020-08-24|website=KUSA.com|date=June 12, 2020|language=en-US}} Hickenlooper received a flight on a private jet owned by homebuilder and donor Larry Mizel, the founder of MDC Holdings.{{Cite web|title=Colorado ethics panel orders John Hickenlooper to pay $2,750 for two violations |first=Evan |last=Ochsner |date=June 12, 2020 |url=https://coloradosun.com/2020/06/12/john-hickenlooper-ethics-violation/|access-date=2020-08-24|website=The Colorado Sun|language=en-US}} He also received private security and a ride to the airport in a Maserati limousine on a trip to the Bilderberg Meetings in Italy.{{Cite web|date=2020-06-12|title=John Hickenlooper fined $2,750 for ethics violations as Colorado governor|url=https://www.denverpost.com/2020/06/12/hickenlooper-fine-ethics-violations-colorado-senate-2020/|first=Conrard |last=Swanson |access-date=2020-08-24|website=The Denver Post|language=en-US}} The state spent an estimated $127,000 in attorney's fees investigating the violation.

{{Main|2020 United States Senate election in Colorado}}

Hickenlooper had previously been considered the front-runner to fill the United States Senate seat to be vacated by Ken Salazar upon his confirmation as Secretary of the Interior in the Obama administration.{{cite news|url=http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_11266646|title=Next senator? Hickenlooper|work=The Denver Post|date=December 21, 2008|access-date=December 21, 2008}} He confirmed his interest in the seat.{{cite news|url=http://www.denverpost.com/newsheadlines/ci_11292904|title=Denver mayor confirms interest in Senate job|work=The Denver Post|last=Osher|first=Christopher|date=December 24, 2008|access-date=December 24, 2008}} But on January 3, 2009, Governor Bill Ritter appointed Denver Public Schools Superintendent Michael Bennet to the position.{{cite news|url=http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_11362547|title=Bennet pick shocks some in Colorado|work=The Denver Post|date=January 3, 2009|access-date=January 3, 2009|first=Amie|last=Parnes|archive-date=December 8, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208164529/http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_11362547|url-status=dead}} Bennet previously served as Hickenlooper's chief of staff.

In a YouTube video published to his campaign channel on August 22, 2019, Hickenlooper announced that he would run for the U.S. Senate in 2020.{{cite web |last1=Hickenlooper |first1=John |title=Not Done Fighting |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-63689Ahyuk |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/-63689Ahyuk |archive-date=2021-12-22 |url-status=live|date=August 22, 2019 |website=YouTube |publisher=John Hickenlooper |access-date=22 August 2019}}{{cbignore}} Some preliminary polling data showed him with a substantial lead against incumbent Republican Senator Cory Gardner.{{Cite web|url=https://www.msnbc.com/11th-hour/watch/john-hickenlooper-expected-to-end-his-2020-campaign-may-shift-to-senate-run-66137157827 |date=August 15, 2019 |title=John Hickenlooper expected to end his 2020 campaign, may shift to Senate run|website=MSNBC.com}} Hickenlooper was also leading the Democratic primary field by a fairly wide margin before he announced.{{cite web |last1=Wingerter |first1=Justin |title=Hickenlooper would have a massive lead in Senate primary, poll finds |url=https://www.denverpost.com/2019/08/12/john-hickenlooper-2020-senate-cory-gardner/ |website=The Denver Post |date=August 12, 2019 |access-date=22 August 2019}} He was quickly endorsed by the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, a move protested by candidates already running before Hickenlooper's entry.{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/six-women-seeking-colorado-senate-seat-ask-dscc-to-reconsider-endorsement-of-hickenlooper/2019/08/27/89feff52-c8e4-11e9-a1fe-ca46e8d573c0_story.html|title=Six women seeking Colorado Senate seat ask DSCC to reconsider endorsement of Hickenlooper|newspaper=The Washington Post | access-date=15 September 2019}}

On June 30, Hickenlooper defeated former state house Speaker Andrew Romanoff in the Democratic primary,{{Cite news|title=Live: Colorado State Primary Election Results 2020|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|date=June 30, 2020 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/06/30/us/elections/results-colorado-primary-elections.html|access-date=2020-07-01|issn=0362-4331}} winning the nomination to challenge one-term incumbent Republican Cory Gardner.{{Cite web|url=https://www.cpr.org/2020/06/30/hickenlooper-wins-the-dem-senate-primary-will-face-cory-gardner/|title=Hickenlooper Wins The Dem Senate Primary; Will Face Cory Gardner|website=CPR News |date=June 30, 2020 | access-date=30 June 2020}} He defeated Gardner by 9 points{{cite news |last1=Alas |first1=Horus |title=Democrat John Hickenlooper Defeats Cory Gardner for Colorado Senate Seat |url=https://www.usnews.com/news/elections/articles/2020-11-03/democrat-john-hickenlooper-defeats-cory-gardner-for-colorado-senate-seat |work=U.S. News |date=November 3, 2020}} and took office on January 3, 2021.

In the wake of the 2021 storming of the United States Capitol, Hickenlooper said he would support efforts to remove Donald Trump from office, in line with most of his party.{{cite news |last1=Zelinger |first1=Marshall |title=Colorado Congressional Democrats advocate for removing Trump from office |url=https://www.9news.com/article/news/local/next/colorado-congressional-democrats-removing-trump-from-office-25th-amendment-impeach/73-e7233108-43fc-419c-8117-bb28734159f3 |access-date=8 January 2021 |work=KUSA |date=7 January 2021}}

In May 2022, an analysis by the nonprofit news organization Sludge found that Hickenlooper had violated the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act of 2012 by failing to disclose within 45 days five stock trades his household made, which were worth between $565,000 and $1.3 million.{{Cite web |last1=Moore |first1=David |last2=Shaw |first2=Donald |date=2022-05-25 |title=Three More Senators Violated the STOCK Act |url=https://readsludge.com/2022/05/25/three-more-senators-violated-the-stock-act/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240620093811/https://readsludge.com/2022/05/25/three-more-senators-violated-the-stock-act/ |archive-date=2024-06-20 |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=Sludge |language=en}}

In June 2022, an analysis by Business Insider found that Hickenlooper had again violated the STOCK Act by disclosing stock trades made by his wife between two and 14 months later than required by law, including purchases worth between $516,006 and $1.2 million and sales worth between $130,004 and $300,000.{{Cite web |last1=Leonard |first1=Kimberly |last2=Hall |first2=Madison |date=2022-06-14 |title=Two prominent Democratic lawmakers violated a federal conflicts-of-interest law. Again. |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/democrats-hickenlooper-raskin-stock-trades-congress-2022-6 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221220135512/https://www.businessinsider.com/democrats-hickenlooper-raskin-stock-trades-congress-2022-6 |archive-date=2022-12-20 |access-date=2024-07-03 |website=Business Insider |language=en-US}}

• Committee on Energy and Natural Resources
• Subcommittee on Energy
• Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining
• Subcommittee on Water and Power
• Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions
• Subcommittee on Children and Families
• Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety (Chair)
• Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation
• Subcommittee on Aviation Safety, Operations, and Innovation
• Subcommittee on Communications, Media, and Broadband
• Subcommittee on Space and Science (Chair)
• Subcommittee on Tourism, Trade and Export Promotion
• Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship

{{See also|Endorsements in the 2020 Democratic Party presidential primaries#John Hickenlooper}}

{{Infobox U.S. federal election campaign

|committee = Hickenlooper 2020

| campaign = 2020 United States presidential election (Democratic Party primaries)

| candidate = John Hickenlooper

Governor of Colorado (2011–2019)
Mayor of Denver (2003–2011)

|logo= John Hickenlooper 2020 presidential campaign logo.png

|status=Suspended

|announced= March 4, 2019

|launched = March 7, 2019

|suspended= August 15, 2019

|cand_id =

|fec_date =9/30/2019

|affiliation = Democratic Party

|headquarters = Denver, Colorado

|key_people = Brad Komar (campaign manager){{Cite web|url=https://apnews.com/d9a96f2ecbf744c5bcdcbb3d4eb745db|title=Colorado's Hickenlooper staffs up for possible 2020 bid|author1=Nicholas Riccardi|author2=James Anderson|date=December 5, 2018|work=Associated Press|access-date=March 4, 2019}}

|receipts =3508447.82{{Cite web |url=https://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/forms/C00698258/1367731/ |title=Form 3P for Hickenlooper 2020 |website=Campaign finance data |publisher=Federal Election Commission |date=December 23, 2019}}

|slogan = Stand Tall

|chant =

|homepage ={{URL|https://www.hickenlooper.com}}

}}

File:John Hickenlooper (48017199683).jpg State Convention in June 2019.]]

On March 4, 2019, Hickenlooper announced his campaign to seek the Democratic nomination for president of the United States in 2020.{{cite news|url=https://www.vox.com/2019/3/4/18249661/john-hickenlooper-colorado-governor-brewpub-president-2020|title=John Hickenlooper, former Colorado governor and brewpub owner, is running for president|last=Golshan|first=Tara|date=March 4, 2019|work=Vox|access-date=April 1, 2019}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/04/us/hickenlooper-president-colorado.html|title=John Hickenlooper, Former Colorado Governor, Declares Candidacy for President|author=Julie Turkewitz|date=March 4, 2019|work=The New York Times|access-date=March 4, 2019|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web|url=https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/432424-hickenlooper-launches-2020-presidential-campaign|title=Hickenlooper launches 2020 presidential campaign|author1=Kyle Balluck|author2=Michael Burke|date=March 4, 2019|website=The Hill|language=en|access-date=March 4, 2019}} His candidacy had been a matter of media speculation for months before his announcement.{{cite web |last1=Michael |first1=Casey |date=February 14, 2019|title=Ex-Colorado Gov. Hickenlooper tells New Hampshire crowd he supports universal health care |url=https://www.denverpost.com/2019/02/14/hickenlooper-universal-health-care-new-hampshire/ |website=The Denver Post |access-date=March 12, 2019}}{{cite web |title=Colorado's Hickenlooper staffs up for possible 2020 bid |date=December 5, 2018|author1= Nicholas Riccardi|author2= James Anderson|url=https://www.apnews.com/d9a96f2ecbf744c5bcdcbb3d4eb745db |website=Associated Press |access-date=March 12, 2019}} Hickenlooper formally launched his campaign on March 7, 2019, in Denver, Colorado.{{Cite web|url=https://kdvr.com/2019/03/01/hickenlooper-expected-to-announce-presidential-run-march-7-in-downtown-denver/|title=Hickenlooper expected to announce Presidential run next week|date=March 1, 2019|website=FOX31 Denver|language=en|access-date=March 4, 2019|author=Joe St. George|archive-date=March 2, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190302151959/https://kdvr.com/2019/03/01/hickenlooper-expected-to-announce-presidential-run-march-7-in-downtown-denver/|url-status=dead}} A video titled "Stand Tall" was released to announce the campaign and outline his reasons for running. Hickenlooper formed Giddy Up PAC in 2018 in anticipation of a presidential campaign, raising more than $600,000 in the midterm cycle.{{cite web |last1=Arke |first1=Raymond |title=How will moderate John Hickenlooper's fundraising compare to bigger names? |url=https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2019/03/moderate-john-hickenlooper-fundraising-2020/ |website=opensecrets.org |access-date=March 5, 2019 |date=March 4, 2019}} The campaign struggled to gain traction in the crowded and increasingly competitive Democratic presidential primary field, and Hickenlooper ended his candidacy in a YouTube video on August 15, 2019, and instead began exploring a run for the U.S. Senate.{{cite news |last1=Stevens |first1=Matt |last2=Flegenheimer |first2=Matt |title=John Hickenlooper to End Struggling Presidential Campaign |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/15/us/politics/john-hickenlooper-drop-out-senate.html |access-date=15 August 2019 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=August 15, 2019}}John Hickenlooper (August 15, 2019). {{YouTube|KI7PcBeEaOo|Thank You}}.{{Cite web|url=https://coloradosun.com/2019/08/15/john-hickenlooper-ends-presiential-campaign-officially/|title=Hickenlooper formally ends his presidential bid, saying he intends to give U.S. Senate bid "serious thought"|last=Paul|first=Jesse|date=2019-08-15|website=The Colorado Sun|language=en-US|access-date=2019-08-15}}

File:John W. Hickenlooper World Economic Forum 2013.jpg 2013]]

In 2013, a campaign sought clemency for Nathan Dunlap, a black man facing execution for the 1993 murder of four people, with three former jurors saying they would not have voted for the death penalty had they known of his undiagnosed mental illness, while the mother of a victim, a former co-worker of Dunlap, and the Arapahoe County District Attorney urged Hickenlooper to let the execution take place.{{cite news |first=Wayne |last=Harrison |url=http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/letters-urge-governor-to-deny-clemency-for-nathan-dunlap-sentenced-to-death-for-4-murders |title=Letters urge governor to deny clemency for Nathan Dunlap |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130608084122/http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/local-news/letters-urge-governor-to-deny-clemency-for-nathan-dunlap-sentenced-to-death-for-4-murders |archive-date=June 8, 2013 |work=7 News Denver |date=May 10, 2013 }} Hickenlooper granted Dunlap a reprieve, reversible by a future governor, citing inequity in the legal system and the evidence against capital punishment's effectiveness as a deterrent, saying, "It is a legitimate question whether we as a state should be taking lives".{{cite web |last1=Roberts |first1=Michael |title=John Hickenlooper gives Nathan Dunlap reprieve from death but doesn't grant clemency |url=https://www.westword.com/news/john-hickenlooper-gives-nathan-dunlap-reprieve-from-death-but-doesnt-grant-clemency-5850509 |website=Westword |date=22 May 2013}}{{cite web|url=https://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite/GovHickenlooper/CBON/1251642762288 |date=May 22, 2013 |title=Gov. Hickenlooper grants temporary reprieve of death sentence|website=colorado.gov|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140414052344/https://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite/GovHickenlooper/CBON/1251642762288 |access-date=July 16, 2016|archive-date=April 14, 2014 }}

In Hickenlooper's 2016 memoir, he came out against the death penalty, saying his views had changed after he became more familiar with the research showing bias against minorities and people with mental illnesses.{{cite book |last1=Potter |first1=Maximilian |last2=Hickenlooper |first2=John |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N_XlCgAAQBAJ |title=The Opposite of Woe: My Life in Beer and Politics |date=2016 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=N_XlCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA321 321]|publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-1-101-98168-9 }}

In May 2014, Hickenlooper signed five bills related to disaster relief in the wake of flooding and wildfires. The bills funded grants to remove flood debris from watersheds and to repair flood-damaged schools and damaged wastewater and drinking water systems. They also exempted people who lost homes from having to pay property taxes and out-of-state disaster workers from having to pay Colorado state income tax.{{cite web|url=https://denver.cbslocal.com/2014/05/19/colorado-residents-welcome-disaster-relief-legislation/ |agency=Associated Press |work=CBS Denver |date=May 19, 2014 |title=Colorado Residents Welcome Disaster Relief Legislation |access-date=July 16, 2016}}

In 2005, Denver voted to legalize possession of small amounts of cannabis, becoming the first major U.S. city to do so.{{cite news |last1=O'Driscoll |first1=Patrick |title=Denver votes to legalize marijuana possession |url=https://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-11-03-pot_x.htm |access-date=January 5, 2023 |work=USA Today |date=November 3, 2005}} Hickenlooper opposed the initiative as mayor, calling marijuana a gateway drug and saying that the initiative would not prevent enforcement of state law prohibiting cannabis. As governor in 2012, he opposed Amendment 64, which made Colorado the first state along with Washington to allow the sale and recreational use of cannabis. Hickenlooper said the initiative "sends the wrong message to kids that drugs are OK" and that "federal authorities have been clear they will not turn a blind eye toward states attempting to trump those laws".{{cite news |last1=Ferner |first1=Matt |title=Gov. John Hickenlooper Opposes Legal Weed: 'Colorado Is Known For Many Great Things, Marijuana Should Not Be One Of Them' |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/gov-john-hickenlooper-opp_n_1879248 |access-date=January 5, 2023 |work=HuffPost |date=September 12, 2012}} Despite his opposition, he worked with the state legislature to implement the initiative after it passed, and a federal crackdown on sale of the drug never materialized.{{cite news|last1=Hadar|first1=Roey|date=March 4, 2019|title=Gov. John Hickenlooper: 7 things you need to know about the 2020 Democrat|work=Washington Week|publisher=PBS|url=https://www.pbs.org/weta/washingtonweek/blog-post/gov-john-hickenlooper-7-things-you-need-know-about-2020-democrat|access-date=July 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210922064721/https://www.pbs.org/weta/washingtonweek/blog-post/gov-john-hickenlooper-7-things-you-need-know-about-2020-democrat |archive-date=September 22, 2021 |url-status=dead}}

As Colorado's new laws were implemented and the results became clearer, Hickenlooper's views evolved.{{cite news |last1=Jaeger |first1=Kyle |title=Where Presidential Candidate John Hickenlooper Stands On Marijuana |url=https://www.marijuanamoment.net/where-presidential-candidate-john-hickenlooper-stands-on-marijuana/ |access-date=January 5, 2023 |work=Marijuana Moment |date=March 5, 2019}} In 2016, he said that Colorado's approach to cannabis legalization was "beginning to look like it might work".{{cite news|last1=Kelly|first1=David|date=May 17, 2016|title=Governor who called legalization 'reckless' now says Colorado's pot industry is working|work=Los Angeles Times|url=http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-hickenlooper-marijuana-20160516-20160516-snap-story.html}} In 2019, he said that "the things that I feared six years ago have not come to pass"{{cite news |last1=Luning |first1=Ernest |title=Hickenlooper: Feds should let states decide whether to legalize pot (VIDEO) |url=https://www.coloradopolitics.com/news/hickenlooper-feds-should-let-states-decide-whether-to-legalize-pot-video/article_fef259d4-4082-11e9-a050-bff4c6ba04bf.html |access-date=January 5, 2023 |work=Colorado Politics |date=March 7, 2019}} and that he would be happy to decriminalize cannabis at the federal level if he became president.{{cite news |last1=Staver |first1=Anna |title=Q&A: John Hickenlooper on Colorado's marijuana legalization and how he talks to his son about pot |url=https://www.denverpost.com/2019/04/20/john-hickenlooper-marijuana-q-and-a/ |work=The Denver Post |date=April 20, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190428070128/https://www.denverpost.com/2019/04/20/john-hickenlooper-marijuana-q-and-a/ |archive-date=April 28, 2019}} He also said that the federal government should not stop states from decriminalizing illicit drugs beyond marijuana, as well as allowing for safe, supervised injection sites.{{Cite web|last=Jaeger|first=Kyle|date=March 20, 2019|title=Let States Decriminalize Heroin And Cocaine, Presidential Candidate Hickenlooper Says|url=https://www.marijuanamoment.net/let-states-decriminalize-heroin-and-cocaine-presidential-candidate-hickenlooper-says/|access-date=April 16, 2021|website=Marijuana Moment|language=en-US}} In 2022 he introduced the PREPARE Act, to direct the attorney general to develop a regulatory framework for cannabis similar to alcohol, in preparation for federal legalization of the drug.{{cite news |last1=Roth |first1=Samantha-Jo |title=Colorado's Hickenlooper eyes federal regulation of marijuana post-legalization |url=https://www.coloradopolitics.com/colorado-in-dc/colorados-hickenlooper-eyes-federal-regulation-of-marijuana-post-legalization/article_f933b54c-72a1-11ed-955c-83fe8e11b661.html |access-date=January 5, 2023 |work=Colorado Politics |date=December 2, 2022}}{{cite news |last1=Jaeger |first1=Kyle |title=Senator Files Bill To Get Country Ready For Federal Marijuana Legalization Amid Heightened Reform Talks |url=https://www.marijuanamoment.net/senator-files-bill-to-get-country-ready-for-federal-marijuana-legalization-amid-heightened-reform-talks/ |access-date=January 5, 2023 |work=Marijuana Moment |date=December 1, 2022}}

In March 2014, Hickenlooper signed House Bill 1241, which funded the Rural Economic Development Initiative (REDI).{{cite web|url=http://kdvr.com/2014/03/11/hickenlooper-signs-rural-economic-development-bill/|title=Hickenlooper signs rural economic development bill|date=March 11, 2014 |access-date=July 16, 2016}}

In 2016, Hickenlooper launched a program called Skillful, with the help of LinkedIn and the Markle Foundation. The program uses online tools and on-the-ground advisors to help businesses create job descriptions to tap into a wider job pool and help job seekers fill high-need jobs and connect them with job training.{{cite news |last1=Armbrister |first1=Mollie |title=Online job-hunting service for workers without degrees launches in Colorado |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2016/03/17/job-hunting-service-for-workers-without-degrees.html |access-date=2019-02-02 |agency=Denver Business Journal |date=2016-02-17}} Twenty other states are now following. In 2017, Skillful added the Governors Coaching Corps. program, a career coaching initiative operated out of workforce center, community colleges, and nonprofits, with the help of a $25.8 million grant from Microsoft.{{cite news |last1=Hendee |first1=Caitlin |title=Hickenlooper launches program for Colorado career coaches |url=https://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2017/10/26/hickenlooper-launches-program-for-coloradocareer.html|work=Denver Business Journal |access-date=2 March 2019 |date=2017-10-26}}

Hickenlooper calls himself "a fiscal conservative." He has said, "I don't think the government needs to be bigger. I think the government's got to work, and people have got to believe in government, and I think that's part of the problem," and "I think what a lot of Americans want is better government, not bigger government."

Hickenlooper's administration created the first methane-capture regulations for oil and gas companies in the entire country. The rules prevented 95% of volatile organic compounds and methane from leaking from hydraulic fracturing wells.{{cite magazine |last1=Paige Ogburn |first1=Stephanie |title=Colorado First State to Limit Methane Pollution from Oil and Gas Wells |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/colorado-first-state-to-limit-methane-pollution-from-oil-and-gas-wells/ |access-date=3 March 2019 |magazine=Scientific American |date=2014-02-25}} The rules were later used as blueprints for California, Canada, and the federal government's own new rules.{{cite web |last1=Williams |first1=David |title=Congress looks to gut federal methane rule modeled after Colorado regulations |url=http://www.realvail.com/congress-acts-to-roll-back-federal-methane-rules-modeled-after-colorado/a3892 |access-date=3 March 2019 |website=Real Vail |date=3 February 2017}}

After Trump announced that the United States would leave the Paris Climate Accord, Hickenlooper joined more than a dozen other states in retaining the accord's greenhouse gas emission reduction goals.{{cite news |last1=McMahon |first1=Xandra |title=Colorado Joins States Upholding Paris Climate Accord |url=https://www.cpr.org/news/story/colorado-climate-alliance |work=Colorado Public Radio |access-date=3 March 2019 |date=11 July 2017}}

NPR has called Hickenlooper a "strong supporter of Colorado's oil and gas industry".{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/2019/03/04/677939609/former-colorado-gov-john-hickenlooper-joins-the-2020-democratic-presidential-fray|title=Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper Joins The 2020 Democratic Presidential Fray|last=Taylor|first=Jessica|date=March 4, 2019|work=NPR|access-date=April 18, 2019}} Unlike most Democrats, he supports hydraulic fracking, a controversial oil and natural gas extraction process.{{Cite web|url=https://www.governing.com/topics/politics/gov-colorado-hickenlooper.html |first=Zach |last=Patton |date=August 2014 |title=John Hickenlooper: The Man in the Middle|website=www.governing.com|language=en|access-date=2019-04-18}} Before politics, Hickenlooper was a geologist. He believes fracking is a beneficial practice with minimal environmental harm, even testifying in a 2013 hearing before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources that he had drunk a glass of fracking fluid produced by Halliburton.{{Cite web|url=https://www.washingtontimes.com/blog/inside-politics/2013/feb/12/colorado-gov-hickenlooper-i-drank-fracking-fluid/|title=I drank fracking fluid, says Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper |newspaper=The Washington Times |access-date=2019-04-18}}

In February 2021, Hickenlooper was one of seven Democratic U.S. senators to join Republicans in blocking a ban of hydraulic fracturing, commonly known as fracking.{{Cite web|url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=117&session=1&vote=00028|title=U.S. Senate: U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 117th Congress – 1st Session|website=www.senate.gov}}

In September 2023, Hickenlooper introduced the BIG WIRES Act in the United States Senate as S. 2827{{Cite web |title=BIG WIRES Act (S. 2827) |url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/118/s2827 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231106001754/https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/118/s2827 |archive-date=2023-11-06 |access-date=2023-11-04 |website=GovTrack.us |language=en}} alongside Representative Scott Peters, who introduced it in the House of Representatives.{{Cite web |title=Text of H.R. 5551: BIG WIRES Act (Introduced version) |url=https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/118/hr5551/text |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231106000251/https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/118/hr5551/text |archive-date=2023-11-06 |access-date=2023-11-04 |website=GovTrack.us |language=en}} The bill's provisions direct the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to "establish minimum interregional transfer capabilities", better coordinating construction of electrical transmission lines.{{Cite press release |date=September 15, 2023 |title=Hickenlooper, Peters Introduce BIG WIRES Act to Reform Permitting, Lower Energy Costs {{!}} Senator John Hickenlooper |url=https://www.hickenlooper.senate.gov/press_releases/hickenlooper-peters-introduce-big-wires-act-to-reform-permitting-lower-energy-costs/ |access-date=2023-11-04 |language=en-US |archive-date=2023-11-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231106000257/https://www.hickenlooper.senate.gov/press_releases/hickenlooper-peters-introduce-big-wires-act-to-reform-permitting-lower-energy-costs/ |url-status=live}} The bill is part of broader push to accelerate permitting for clean energy.{{Cite news |last=Deppisch |first=Breanne |date=2023-10-11 |title=Daily on Energy: Peters tries to regroup for permitting reform – 'we will still fail' without it |language=en |work=Washington Examiner |url=https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy-environment/daily-on-energy-peters-tries-to-regroup-for-permitting-reform-we-will-still-fail-without-it |url-status=live |access-date=2023-11-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231106000250/https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/energy-environment/daily-on-energy-peters-tries-to-regroup-for-permitting-reform-we-will-still-fail-without-it |archive-date=2023-11-06}}

Exactly eight months after the 2012 mass shooting in Aurora, Colorado, Hickenlooper signed bills into law requiring universal background checks on all gun transfers in Colorado except gifts between immediate family members, and banning magazines with more than 15 rounds.{{cite news| url=http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_22831085/colorado-gov-hickenlooper-signs-key-gun-control-bills | newspaper=The Denver Post | title=3 new gun bills on the books in Colorado despite its Wild West image | first1=Lynn | last1=Bartells | first2=Kurtis | last2 = Lee | date=March 21, 2013 | pages=1a,10a}}{{cite web |last1=Kertscher |first1=Tom |title=Fact-checking presidential hopeful John Hickenlooper on beating NRA with 'tough' Colorado gun laws |url=https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2019/may/30/john-hickenlooper/fact-checking-presidential-hopeful-john-hickenloop/ |website=PolitiFact |date=May 30, 2019}} Although most Coloradans supported the measures, according to polling by the Denver Post, the bills' opponents gathered enough signatures to trigger special elections leading to the ousting of Democratic state senators John Morse and Angela Giron and the resignation of Evie Hudak.{{cite news |date=November 17, 2013 |url=https://www.denverpost.com/2013/11/27/evie-hudak-resigns-colorado-state-senator-avoids-recall-election/ |first1=Lynn |last1=Bartels |first2=Kurtis |last2=Lee |title=Evie Hudak resigns: Colorado state senator avoids recall election|newspaper=Denver Post }}

Hickenlooper was a member of Mayors Against Illegal Guns until 2011.{{cite web |title=Guns: Concealed controversy |url=https://www.denverpost.com/2008/05/02/guns-concealed-controversy/ |website=The Denver Post |date=2 May 2008}} In 2018, he supported a Red Flag or Extreme Risk Protection Order Bill in the legislature that would have allowed judges to temporally restrict firearm access to those deemed a significant risk to themselves or others.{{cite news |last1=Frank |first1=John |title=New Colorado "red flag" bill would allow gun seizure for six months or more from those who pose "significant risk" |url=https://www.denverpost.com/2018/04/30/red-flag-gun-bill-colorado-mental-health/ |access-date=3 March 2019 |agency=The Denver Post |date=2018-04-30}} The GOP-controlled State Senate never let the bill out of committee that legislative session.{{cite news |last1=Miller |first1=Blair |title=Colorado's 'red flag' bill dies in committee after 3-2 vote along party lines |url=https://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/politics/senate-republicans-say-colorado-red-flag-bill-likely-to-fail-in-committee |access-date=3 March 2019 |agency=Denver Channel 7 |date=7 May 2018}}File:Governor John Hickenlooper 2015.jpg

Hickenlooper expanded Medicaid and established Colorado's health insurance marketplace, Connect for Health Colorado, through the provisions of the Affordable Care Act. The state's uninsured rate dropped from 14.3% in 2013 to 6.5% in 2017. Approximately 350,000 Coloradans, about a quarter of whom are undocumented immigrants and thus ineligible for public insurance, remained without insurance coverage. The price of health insurance coverage continued to rise in Colorado, which has some of the highest premiums in the nation.{{cite web |last1=Rennie |first1=Julianna |title=Hickenlooper expanded Medicaid, created state-run marketplace to insure nearly all Coloradans |url=https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2019/apr/11/john-hickenlooper/hickenlooper-expanded-medicaid-created-state-run-m/ |website=PolitiFact |date=April 11, 2019}}

Hickenlooper is pro-choice on abortion rights. After Roe v. Wade was overturned in June 2022, he said the decision "threatens not just a woman’s physical health & control over her own future, but it also threatens to put women & their doctors in jail", and that "Republicans should join Democrats today and vote to keep politics out of reproductive health care decisions."{{cite web |last1=Hickenlooper |first1=John |title="For 50 years, the Constitution has protected a woman's right to her own health care decisions. Overturning #RoevWade shatters that freedom. It threatens not just a woman's physical health & control over her own future, but it also threatens to put women & their doctors in jail." |url=https://twitter.com/SenatorHick/status/1540357446979428353 |website=Twitter |access-date=24 June 2022 |language=en}}

As governor, Hickenlooper signed legislation granting in-state tuition to Dreamers (DACA) and joined a lawsuit to stop the Trump administration from ending DACA.{{cite web |last1=Novello |first1=Gabriella |title=FACT CHECK: Gardner and Hickenlooper on Immigration |url=https://coloradotimesrecorder.com/2020/10/fact-check-gardner-and-hickenlooper-on-immigration/31841/ |website=Colorado Times Recorder |date=October 22, 2020 |access-date=February 5, 2021}} During his 2019 campaign for President, Hickenlooper described the Trump administration family separation policy as ″kidnapping″ and said it would be ″crazy″ to deport 11 million undocumented immigrants.{{cite web |title=John Hickenlooper on Immigration |url=https://www.ontheissues.org/2020/John_Hickenlooper_Immigration.htm |website=ontheissues.org |publisher=On the Issues |access-date=February 5, 2021}}

Hickenlooper voted against providing economic support to undocumented immigrants during the COVID-19 pandemic on February 4, 2021.{{cite web |title=U.S. Senate: U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 117th Congress – 1st Session |url=https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=117&session=1&vote=00018 |website=senate.gov |access-date=February 5, 2021}}{{cite news |title=Sen. John Hickenlooper frustrates immigration activists with vote to block some from stimulus checks |url=https://www.denverpost.com/2021/02/04/john-hickenlooper-immigration-us-senate/ |access-date=February 5, 2021 |work=The Denver Post |date=4 February 2021}}

In March 2019, Hickenlooper said he supported legalizing sex work and regulating "where there are norms and protections".{{Cite web|last=Burke|first=Michael|date=2019-03-11|title=2020 Dem candidate Hickenlooper advocates exploring legalized prostitution|url=https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/433533-2020-dem-candidate-hickenlooper-advocates-exploring-legalized-prostitution|access-date=2021-04-16|website=TheHill|language=en}}

During his 2020 presidential campaign, Hickenlooper voiced concern about potential monopolistic activity in the tech sector, and identified Amazon and Google as potentially hindering competition. His platform called for revamping the Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914 to clamp down on anti-competitive behavior.{{Cite news |date=2019-04-26 |title=Democratic hopeful Hickenlooper to take on monopolies in economic plan |language=en |work=Reuters |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-election-hickenlooper-monopoly-idUSKCN1S205R |access-date=2022-06-08}}

As governor, Hickenlooper set up a Council for the Advancement of Blockchain Technology to coordinate Colorado's approach to blockchain policy.{{Cite web |date=2018-07-27 |title=Colorado Becoming Leader In Blockchain Technology |url=https://denver.cbslocal.com/2018/07/27/blockchain-technology-colorado-companies-governor-john-hickenlooper/ |access-date=2022-06-08 |language=en-US}}

File:John Hickenlooper at the inauguration of Joe Biden.jpg]]

Hickenlooper's first wife, Helen Thorpe, is a writer whose work has been published in The New Yorker, The New York Times Magazine, George, and Texas Monthly. Before they separated, they lived in Denver's Park Hill neighborhood with their son, Teddy.{{cite news|url=http://w3.nexis.com/new/docview/getDocForCuiReq?lni=4KJT-GX80-TX2R-92D4&csi=142706&oc=00240&perma=true|title=Hickenloopers out to forsake their LoDo loft |last=Gathright|first=Alan|date=August 4, 2006|work=Rocky Mountain News|publisher=Denver Publishing Company|pages=6A|access-date=April 24, 2010}} Upon taking office as governor, Hickenlooper and his family decided to maintain their private residence instead of moving to the Colorado Governor's Mansion.{{Cite web|url=http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_20389992/governors-mdash-including-hickenlooper-mdash-forgoing-living-executive|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120416005043/http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_20389992/governors-mdash-including-hickenlooper-mdash-forgoing-living-executive |url-status=dead|title=Governors-including Hickenlooper-forgoing living in executive mansions |work=Denver Post |archive-date=April 16, 2012}} On July 31, 2012, Hickenlooper announced that he and Thorpe were divorcing after 10 years of marriage.{{cite news|title=Colorado governor and wife to separate, political future still looks bright|url=http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_21200808/colorado-governor-separate-political-future-still-looks-bright|work=The Denver Post|access-date=August 5, 2012|first=Lynn|last=Bartels|date=July 31, 2012}} After the divorce, Hickenlooper moved into the Governor's Mansion. Hickenlooper married Robin Pringle on January 16, 2016.{{cite news| url=http://www.denverpost.com/2016/01/16/gov-john-hickenlooper-marries-robin-pringle-in-small-ceremony/ | work=The Denver Post | title=Gov. John Hickenlooper marries Robin Pringle in small ceremony | date=January 16, 2016}} Pringle and Hickenlooper welcomed a baby boy via surrogate in December 2022.{{cite news |last1=Kim |first1=Caitlyn |title=Baby Hick: Senator John Hickenlooper and wife welcome baby via surrogate |url=https://www.cpr.org/2022/12/09/baby-hick-senator-john-hickenlooper-and-wife-welcome-baby-via-surrogate/ |access-date=9 December 2022 |work=Colorado Public Radio |date=December 9, 2022 |language=en}}

Hickenlooper is of partial Dutch descent.{{Cite web|last=Bunch|first=Joey|date=2019-11-18|title=BEST OF COPO 2018 {{!}} Hickenlooper looks back, ahead|url=https://www.coloradopolitics.com/news/best-of-copo-2018-hickenlooper-looks-back-ahead/article_4f7f7c9a-0ba6-11e9-bc45-77a7b0081bc5.html|access-date=2021-09-08|website=Colorado Politics|language=en}} His mother's family were practicing Quakers. He spent a summer in his teens volunteering with the American Friends Service Committee in Robbinston, Maine, helping establish a volunteer-run free school.{{cite news |last=Woodard |first=Colin |date=March 17, 2019 |title=Presidential candidate John Hickenlooper got his start volunteering in Maine |url=https://www.pressherald.com/2019/03/17/presidential-candidate-john-hickenlooper-got-his-start-volunteering-in-maine/ |work=Portland Press Herald |location=Portland, ME |access-date=April 25, 2019 }} In 2010, Hickenlooper told The Philadelphia Inquirer that he and Thorpe attended Quaker meetings and tried to live by Quaker values.{{cite news|last=Timpane|first=John|title=On campaign trail with John Hickenlooper, Pennsylvania native running for Colorado governor|url=http://www.philly.com/inquirer/front_page/20101027_On_campaign_trail_with_John_Hickenlooper__Pennsylvania_native_running_for_Colorado_governor.html|access-date=August 10, 2011|newspaper=Inquirer|date=October 27, 2010}} In a 2018 speech to the Economic Club of Chicago, Hickenlooper said "I'm not a Quaker", but spoke about the role of Quaker teaching in his approach to government.{{cite web |title=The Honorable John W. Hickenlooper: Top Takeaways |url=https://www.econclubchi.org/media/2184/hickenlooperrecc.pdf |website=Recently at ECC |publisher=Economic Club of Chicago |date=November 14, 2018 |access-date=April 25, 2019 |archive-date=April 25, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190425193239/https://www.econclubchi.org/media/2184/hickenlooperrecc.pdf |url-status=dead }}

A cousin, George Hickenlooper (1963–2010) was an Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker.{{cite news| url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/george-hickenloopers-death-caused-accidental-48185 | work=The Hollywood Reporter | first=Kimberly | last=Nordyke | title=George Hickenlooper's Death Caused by Accidental Overdose | date=November 22, 2010}} He is the great-grandson of Civil War Brivet Brigadier General Andrew Hickenlooper and the grandson of federal judge Smith Hickenlooper. Other relatives include pianist Olga Samaroff (née Lucy Mary Olga Agnes Hickenlooper), the first wife of conductor Leopold Stokowski, and great-uncle Bourke Hickenlooper, who served as governor of Iowa and a U.S. senator from Iowa.{{cite web|last=Ealy|first=Charles|title=George Hickenlooper: The life and times of a director|url=http://www.austin360.com/movies/george-hickenlooper-the-life-and-times-of-a-1022212.html|work=Austin American-Statesman|access-date=August 10, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101108054809/http://www.austin360.com/movies/george-hickenlooper-the-life-and-times-of-a-1022212.html|archive-date=November 8, 2010|url-status=dead}}{{cite web|url=https://www.denverpost.com/2018/12/06/the-spot-denver-politics-are-about-to-take-center-stage-and-whats-coming-in-2019-for-marijuana/|title=The Spot: Denver politics are about to take center stage and what's coming in 2019 for marijuana|last=Kenney|first=Andrew|work=The Denver Post|date=December 6, 2018|access-date=April 6, 2020}}

Writer Kurt Vonnegut was a friend of Hickenlooper's father. Meeting later in life, Vonnegut offered advice that came to guide Hickenlooper's life: "Be very careful who you pretend to be, because that's who you're going to be." In his 2016 memoir, Hickenlooper mentioned that he watched the 1972 pornographic movie Deep Throat with his mother alongside one of his friends.{{Cite web|last=Rossman|first=Sean|date=2019-03-21|title=Presidential candidate John Hickenlooper said he watched 'Deep Throat' with his mom|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/onpolitics/2019/03/21/john-hickenlooper-took-mom-see-adult-movie-deep-throat/3231629002/|access-date=2021-04-16|website=USA TODAY|language=en-US}} He later recounted the event during his 2020 presidential campaign.

Hickenlooper is an avid squash player and continues to compete as a ranked player in national tournaments.{{Cite web |last=Zug |first=James |date=2017-05-24 |title=National Doubles Goes a Mile High |url=https://squashmagazine.com/2017/05/national-doubles-goes-a-mile-high/ |access-date=2021-04-16 |website=Squash Magazine |language=en-US}} As of 2019, Hickenlooper's net worth was more than $8 million.{{cite news |last1=Frank |first1=John |last2=Paul |first2=Jesse |title=John Hickenlooper is worth at least $7.8 million. Here is where his money is invested. |url=https://coloradosun.com/2019/12/20/john-hickenlooper-net-worth-colorado-senate-race/ |access-date=15 October 2021 |publisher=The Colorado Sun |date=20 December 2019}}{{cite news |last1=Wingerter |first1=Justin |title=John Hickenlooper files financial disclosure form showing net worth is at least $9M |url=https://www.denverpost.com/2019/12/20/john-hickenlooper-financial-disclosure-net-worth |access-date=15 October 2021 |publisher=The Denver Post |date=20 December 2019}}

Hickenlooper lives with prosopagnosia, commonly known as "face blindness".{{cite web |last=Merica |first=Dan |date=June 26, 2019 |title=John Hickenlooper didn't mean to forget who you are: How face blindness has affected his political career |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2019/03/13/politics/john-hickenlooper-face-blindness-prosopagnosia/index.html |publisher=CNN}}

• Hickenlooper appears in Kurt Vonnegut's novel Timequake.{{cite book|title=Critical companion to Kurt Vonnegut: a literary reference to his life and work|last=Farrell|first=Susan|publisher=Infobase|year=2008|isbn=978-0-8160-6598-1|page=284}} The author had been college friends with Hickenlooper's father.
• For a 2004 roast of the then-mayor of Denver, Vonnegut declared in a joke video that he was Hickenlooper's real father.{{Cite AV media|type=YouTube video|title=Is Denver Mayor Hickenlooper Kurt Vonnegut's Long-Lost Son|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ME3ggwdN_I0 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211222/ME3ggwdN_I0 |archive-date=2021-12-22 |url-status=live}}{{cbignore}}
• In November 2012, Esquire interviewed Hickenlooper as one of the "Americans of the Year 2012".{{cite news |url=http://www.esquire.com/features/americans-2012/john-hickenlooper-interview-1212 |title=John Hickenlooper Interview 1212 |work=Esquire Magazine |first=Robert |last=Sanchez |date=November 16, 2012 |access-date=December 16, 2012}}
• Hickenlooper made a cameo appearance in his cousin George Hickenlooper's 2010 film Casino Jack.{{Cite web|last1=Kaji|first1=Mina|last2=Szabo|first2=Christine|last3=Gehlen|first3=Bobby|date=2019-08-25|title=John Hickenlooper: Everything you need to know about the former 2020 presidential candidate|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/colorado-gov-john-hickenlooper/story?id=61334724|access-date=2021-04-16|website=ABC News|language=en}}{{Cite web|last=Baumgarten|first=Marjorie|date=2011-01-05|title=Hickenlooper Lobbies for 'Casino Jack'|url=https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/screens/2011-01-05/hickenlooper-lobbies-for-casino-jack/|access-date=2021-04-16|website=Austin Chronicle|language=en-US}}
• Hickenlooper appears in the 2021 documentary film JazzTown as well as the 2022 documentary short Who Killed Jazz.{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt15920898/ |title=JazzTown |website=IMDb |access-date=June 17, 2024}}{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt16157206/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 |title=Who Killed Jazz |website=IMDb |access-date=June 17, 2024}}

{{Main|Electoral history of John Hickenlooper}}

{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

• {{cite book |last1=Hickenlooper |first1=John |last2=Potter |first2=Maximillian |year=2016 |title=The Opposite of Woe: My Life in Beer and Politics |location=New York |publisher=Penguin Press |isbn=978-1-101-98167-2 |oclc=929055877}}

https://www.denverpost.com/?s=Bob+Beauprez&post_type=&orderby=&order=&sp%5Bf%5D=&sp%5Bt%5D=

{{sister project links|auto=yes}}

• [https://www.hickenlooper.senate.gov/ Senator John Hickenlooper] official U.S. Senate website
• [https://hickenlooper.com/ John Hickenlooper for Colorado] campaign website

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