John Hickenlooper Announces Run for President

John Hickenlooper, who moved to Colorado to work as a geologist, was laid off in the bust of the ’80s, then co-founded a brewpub that was the start of his public life (his first campaign from behind the bar: saving the Mile High Stadium name), just announced that he's running for President of the United States in 2020.

The announcement came in the release of a video that highlights Hickenlooper's sixteen years of executive experience, most recently during two terms as governor of Colorado that saw great tragedy as well as triumph as the state jumped from fortieth in job growth to the number-one economy in the country.


“I’m running for president because we need dreamers in Washington, but we also need to get things done,” says Hickenlooper in the video. “I’ve proven again and again I can bring people together to produce the progressive change Washington has failed to deliver.”

Hickenlooper, who's joining an already crowded field, will talk about his run on Good Morning America in a taped segment that will air at 8:30 a.m. this morning. He's the first official presidential candidate from Colorado since Tom Tancredo made his run for the Republican nomination in 2008; Hickenlooper beat Tancredo and official Republican Dan Maes in 2010 to become the first Denver mayor to be elected governor in 120 years.

At 5 p.m. Thursday, March 7, Hickenlooper will hold a rally at Civic Center Park, which includes a performance by hometown heroes Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats. A sign-up link for the general public to attend is now live.

After the rally, Hickenlooper will head to Iowa.

And...he's off.