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Editor's note: This story is part of PolitiFact’s ongoing coverage of the 2020 campaign; these reports will be updated as the campaign continues. For more candidate profiles and fact-checking, go to www.politifact.com/2020/
In a crowded primary field that’s pushing the Democratic party farther to the left, John Hickenlooper has branded himself as an "extreme moderate."
"I think there is a new silent majority that wants to elect people that get stuff done, stop fighting, stop hurling invective and roll up their sleeves and start working together,"Hickenlooper told CNN in January 2019. A former two-term governor of Colorado and mayor of Denver, his key issues were universal health care, business-friendly economic reform, climate change action, and stricter gun control laws.
After Hickenlooper was elected mayor, he eliminated Denver’s $70 million budget deficit and established a mass-transit plan that added 119 miles of rail tracks. As governor, he brought together environmentalists and oil and gas companies to curb methane gas emissions — a key contributor to climate change. (But unlike many Democrats, the former geologist supports fracking and wrote an op-ed denouncing the Green New Deal.) In the wake of a mass shooting at an Aurora movie theater, he passed universal background checks and a ban on high-capacity magazines.
After the passage of the Affordable Care Act, Hickenlooper expanded Medicaid and started a state health insurance exchange to cover nearly 95% of Coloradans. Though Hickenlooper hopes to achieve universal health care coverage nationwide, he opposes Medicare for All. "There are over 150 million Americans who have some form of private insurance through their business, and the vast majority of them are happy with it," he explained on MSNBC’s The Last Word.
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Hickenlooper’s middle-of-the-road stances have garnered criticism that he tries to appease everyone. But he prides himself on his ability to compromise and avoid taking extreme positions. He’s also known for refusing to run attack ads — he even filmed himself showering while fully dressed to show that negative campaigns make him feel dirty.
Name: John Hickenlooper
Current occupation: Candidate for president
Party: Democratic Party
Federal offices: None
Key positions: Opposed creating a state single-payer health care system, started an apprenticeship and workforce skills program, brokered first-of-its-kind regulation on methane emissions, opposed anti-fracking ballot initiative, passed stricter state gun control laws, initially opposed marijuana legalization
State and local offices: Colorado governor, 2011-2019. Denver mayor, 2003-2011
Private sector work: Cofounder of the Wynkoop Brewing Company, geologist for Buckhorn Petroleum
Military: none
Books authored: "The Opposite of Woe: My Life in Beer and Politics," with Maximillian Potter, 2016
Education: B.A. in English, Wesleyan University, 1974. M.S. in geology, Wesleyan University, 1980.
Birth date: February 7, 1952
Personal life: Spouse is Robin Pringle, one child
Religion: Episcopalian
Top issues: health care, economy, climate change, gun control
Miscellaneous: With an approval rating of 92%, Time Magazine named him one of the five best big-city mayors in 2005. His Twitter profile says he is an "occasional banjo player."
Other coverage: Interview on Meet the Press, March 2019; cover profile in Politico, March 2019; interview on The Last Word, March 2019; profile in The Atlantic, September 2018; CNN on rumored Kasich-Hickenlooper unity ticket, August 2017
Campaign website: https://www.hickenlooper.com/
This report will be updated as the campaign continues.
Our Sources
Hickenlooper 2020, campaign website
Wikipedia, John Hickenlooper
NBC News, Meet the Press, March 31, 2019
Politico, "John Hickenlooper Is Running for President As Himself. Uh-oh," March 29, 2019
CNN, "John Hickenlooper takes questions at CNN town hall," March 21, 2019
MSNBC, The Last Word, March 6, 2019
Colorado Sun, "John Hickenlooper’s record is more nuanced than he suggests in presidential campaign launch," March 7, 2019
Washington Post, "John Hickenlooper 'Shower,'" October 13, 2014
Washington Post, "John Hickenlooper: The Green New Deal sets us up for failure. We need a better approach," March 26, 2019
CNN, "Hickenlooper: 'I would probably take the bet' I will run for president," January 27, 2019
The Atlantic, "John Hickenlooper Is the Antithesis of Trump—And Might Run Against Him in 2020," September 18, 2018
CNN, "Source: Kasich, Hickenlooper consider unity presidential ticket in 2020," August 25, 2017