Having lived and worked in Colorado throughout John Hickenlooper’s political career first as Denver mayor then as Governor, I’ve had the chance to observe and on a few occasions to meet him. As he now steps onto the national stage as yet another Democratic contender for the presidency, I wanted to share a few reflections for those who may wonder about the geologist-turned brewpub owner-turned politician.
He’s a nice guy. That’s the first thing to know about Hickenlooper: he is a genuinely kind person, who really likes people. That’s part of what allowed him to work across partisan and other divides — even when he disagrees with you, he remains the kind of person you’d enjoy being around. He’ll gladly take a slightly goofy photo with you (as with my friend pictured above), share a fun story, or yes, have a beer with you — he did after all open up Colorado’s first brewpub, though the “candidate you’d have a beer with” has admittedly become a cliché. Part of this is his business perspective — “there’s no profit margin in making enemies” he says — but I think it is more inherent in his character. In short, as a person, he is the antithesis of Trump: a fundamentally decent and kind man.
He’s a centrist. In part this stems from my first point; Hick’s nature as a people person makes him look for the best in others and want to find ways to work with people across many divides. In that sense, his “centrism” is more inherent to his personality rather than the more calculating centrism of “triangulation” of which Bill Clinton has often been accused. At an early campaign event for his first gubernatorial run, I recall him describing his desire to bear “fair witness” on issues — drawing from his Quaker background — to truthfully understand different people’s perspectives and make them feel heard as decisions are made. I think that effort to understand and appreciate other points of view is the type of centrism Hick would bring, not some cynical move to the middle for political advantage that some Democrats think of when they here the word “centrist”.
He’s reinvented himself — multiple times. Hick came to Colorado as a geologist with a petroleum company. In the industry downturn of the 1980s, he lost his job and decided to start a new career in the restaurant/brewing business, opening Wynkoop Brewing Company in downtown Denver — making him a successful pioneer in the Colorado brewpub industry. In 2003, he turned his sights to the world of politics, albeit with an unconventional campaign that emphasized him not being a traditional politician. He surprised many by winning election as Denver’s mayor, was reelected four years later, and then in 2010 moved to the statewide stage with a successful run for Governor in a three-way race.
He is business-friendly but also recognizes government’s potential as a force for good. Hick certainly has worked to cut back on government waste and to tap the power of private enterprise including with a variety of economic development initiatives at both the local and state levels. However, he is no “private sector always does it better” idealogue, and he has pushed for a range of government programs that serve the greater good. As a popular Denver mayor, he lent his political capital to successful ballot measures in Denver to raise taxes for support of schools, highways, and transit. (In Colorado, voters must approve all tax increases thanks to our “Taxpayers Bill of Rights”). As mayor and later as governor, he promoted efforts to combat homelessness including use of proceeds from Colorado’s marijuana taxes toward affordable housing programs.
While some enviros dislike him, he moved the ball forward on conservation. Hick has been an outspoken supporter of public lands, including advancing a “Colorado the Beautiful” initiative and helping secure National Monument designations from the Obama Administration (and defend them under Trump). He has merged stewardship with business growth by encouraging the development of Colorado’s outdoor recreation industry. As Governor he developed the state’s first-ever Water Plan, in which healthy rivers and sustainable agriculture were promoted as core state values. Some environmentalists, though, saw him — a former geologist with the petroleum industry — as too friendly with oil and gas interests and their fracking activities, including when his Oil and Gas Conservation Commission opposed local government measures to block (or indefinitely suspend) all fracking. Despite those critiques, he did work with interests on both sides to develop the nation’s first methane capture rules for oil ans gas development, which became blueprints for similar regulations in California and nationally. And when Trump pulled the U.S. out of the Paris climate agreement, he joined with other progressive Governors and signed Colorado on with the U.S. Climate Alliance, committing to exceeding the Paris targets regardless of the President’s decision.
He has supported gun control and opposed single-payer healthcare and the death penalty. Following the Aurora theater shooting, Hick signed into law some controversial gun control measures in 2013 — placing a 15-round limit on magazines that could be sold in the state and requiring background checks on any firearm transfer within the state. While the measures may seem common-sense to those of us who see the need for more than thoughts and prayers, he took a real political risk and the laws indeed created a political backlash with two Democratic senators being recalled over the issue and a third resigning to avoid a recall. In 2016,he opposed the “Colorado Care” ballot measure to establish a statewide single payer system for healthcare, suggesting it was premature as other healthcare reforms were just starting to bear fruit and expressing concern about the costs. The measure failed decisively, 79-21, even as Clinton was beating Trump soundly in Colorado. He generated controversy when in 2013 he gave an indefinite stay of execution to Nathan Dunlap, the Chuck E Cheese shooter; in his 2016 memoir he came out fully against the death penalty citing its disproportionate use against minorities and people with mental illness. It will be interesting to see how he positions himself on all of these issues as he builds out his national campaign.
Overall, Hick brings an interesting resumé into an already abundant Democratic presidential field. His reputation is as a business-friendly moderate who wants to build bridges across the partisan divide, but on some issues (gun control, methane rules, water) he has shown strong leadership in advancing more progressive goals. If you try to oversimplify him as a traditional “conservadem” out of touch with the current Democratic zeitgeist — then you are missing a big part of what makes Hick who he is.
I’m not yet certain if I’ll vote for Hickenlooper in the primary (I’ve been very impressed by Harris rollout and by Warren’s policy proposals), but I know he is a worthy addition to the field. At the most basic level, he offers a dramatic personal contrast with Trump. Where Trump bullies and sows division, Hick by nature seeks to bring people together to find common ground. Hick’s fundamental honesty and decency couldn’t be in greater contrast with the grossly indecent and habitually lying Trump. Even Hick’s personal history — building a successful business from scratch, and without ripping off his suppliers and partners! — is markedly different from Trump’s history as a con man whose real business acumen consists of having been born rich enough to survive driving multiple businesses into bankruptcy.
At a minimum, Hick will offer an interesting option as a running mate or future cabinet member should another Democrat win the nomination — and he may just end up surprising those who underestimate him, much like he did with skeptics of his first mayoral run.
A final note: The Denver Post ran a profile on Hickenlooper and his legacy in Colorado back in December, prior to his decision to run nationally — it is worth a read for those who’d like to better understand him and his record in Colorado.