John Hickenlooper (7 February 1952-) was Governor of Colorado (D) from 11 January 2011 to 11 January 2019 (succeeding Bill Ritter and preceding Jared Polis) and a US Senator from Colorado from 3 January 2021 (succeeding Cory Gardner).
Biography[]
John Hickenlooper was born in Narberth, Pennsylvania on 7 February 1952, the great-grandson of Union general Andrew Hickenlooper. He worked as a geologist in Colorado during the 1980s, and he started the Wynkoop Brewing Company, and he redeveloped the dangerous LoDo neighborhood of Denver. From 2003 to 2011, he served as Mayor of Denver, and he was elected Governor of Colorado in 2010. He oversaw increased efforts to combat homelessness, gun control measures, the legalization of recreational marijuana, and opposed capital punishment. In 2019, the term-limited Hickenlooper was succeeded by fellow Democrat Jared Polis. On 4 March 2019, he announced his candidacy for President, but he fell behind in the primaries due to centrists' overwhelming support for Joe Biden, and he ended his campaign on 15 August. He went on to run in his state's US Senate race instead, defeating Republican incumbent Cory Gardner 53.3% to 44.4%.