John Hickenlooper ends presidential bid, considers U.S. Senate run in Colorado
WASHINGTON – Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper on Thursday officially ended a presidential campaign that never got off the ground and said that he is seriously considering a run against Republican Sen. Cory Gardner.
“Today, I’m ending my campaign for president. But I will never stop believing that America can only move forward when we work together,” he said in a video message explaining his decision and thanking supporters. “People want to know what comes next for me. I’ve heard from so many Coloradans who want me to run for the United States Senate. They remind me how much is at stake for our country. And our state. I intend to give that some serious thought.”
A quirky businessman-turned-politician who failed to stand out in the crowded Democratic presidential primary field, Hickenlooper would be an immediate front-runner in another crowded field of Democratic Senate hopefuls eager to challenge Gardner, one of the most vulnerable GOP incumbents seeking reelection next year in a state where President Donald Trump is deeply unpopular.
For months as Hickenlooper struggled to gain traction and raise money as a presidential candidate, he batted away questions about why he was running for president instead of challenging Gardner, saying at one point that he is “not cut out to be” a U.S. senator and repeatedly insisting that his skill set as an executive was a poor fit for a more deliberative role in Congress.
That line would no doubt be used against him should he run, although he is still considered an obvious frontrunner in one of next year’s most competitive and important Senate contests.
Although more than a dozen candidates are already running, none are as familiar to Colorado voters or as battle-tested in statewide races as the former two-term governor and Denver mayor.
That’s the main reason Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer, DN.Y., and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, desperate to flip three seats next November to gain back control of the Senate, have continued to court Hickenlooper, despite his public protestations that the job of being in the U.S. Senate “didn’t speak to” him.