John Wright Hickenlooper, Jr. (born February 7, 1952) is an American politician and the 42nd and current Governor of Colorado. A member of the Democratic Party, Hickenlooper has served as Governor since 2011. He serves as a member of the Western Governors' Association,^[3] and is the Chairman of the National Governors' Association.^[4]

Born in Narberth, Pennsylvania, Hickenlooper is a graduate of Wesleyan University. After his career as a geologist, Hickenlooper entered a career in business and cofounded the Wynkoop Brewing Company in Denver, Colorado. Hickenlooper was elected the 43rd Mayor of Denver in 2003, serving two terms until 2011.

After incumbent Governor Bill Ritter announced that he would not seek reelection, Hickenlooper announced his intentions to run for the Democratic nomination in January 2010. He won in an uncontested primary and faced Constitution Party candidate, former Representative Tom Tancredo, and Republican businessman Dan Maes in the general election, where he won with 51% of the vote. Hickenlooper was sworn into office on January 11, 2011.

Hickenlooper was born in Narberth, Pennsylvania, just outside of Philadelphia, a middle-class^[5] area of the suburban Main Line. He is the son of Anne (née Morris) and John Wright Hickenlooper.^[6][7][8] He was raised by his mother after his father died when he was young. He graduated from Haverford School for boys in 1970,^[9] going on to attend Wesleyan University where he received a B.A. in English in 1974 and a master’s degree in geology in 1980.

Hickenlooper worked as a geologist in Colorado for Buckhorn Petroleum in the early 1980s. With the decline of the local oil industry, Hickenlooper was laid off. Instead of moving away, he decided to start the Wyncoop Brewing Company brewpub in 1988.^[10] Wyncoop and a few other businesses contributed to the redevelopment of the LoDo area following the arrival of major league baseball to the neighborhood. The area was known to be dangerous; Hickenlooper is quoted as saying, "I must've had rocks in my head [when I chose that location]." The rent for Wynkoop's real estate was $1 per square foot per year.^[11]

Hickenlooper's first tasks included handling the city's budget crisis and changing its career personnel system. His cabinet appointees were relatively young. Municipal elections in Denver are nonpartisan. Hickenlooper won re-election for the office of Mayor in May 2007 with 88% of the vote. ^[12] In 2005, he was named by Time as one of the top five big-city mayors in the US. ^[13]

Hickenlooper resigned as mayor at 8 am on January 11, 2011, hours before being inaugurated as Colorado's Governor.

On January 11, 2011, John Hickenlooper was sworn in as the 42nd Governor Of Colorado. On December 4, 2012, Governor Hickenlooper was elected to serve as the vice chair of the Democratic Governors Association in 2013.^[14] He currently serves on the Western Governors' Association, and is the Chairman of the National Governors' Association.

Hickenlooper has campaigned for increasing homeless services since 2003.^[15] He announced a "10 Year Plan to End Homelessness" at the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Washington, D.C.^[16] The Ten Year Plan has seen success since its inception. As of 2013, the initiative added over 2,700 housing opportunities, generated over 6,700 employment and training opportunities, and prevented over 6,100 families and individuals from becoming homeless. ^[17]

In 2000, Colorado voters passed Initiative 20, which legalized marijuana for medical use. In 2006, Denver became one of the first major U.S. cities to legalize the medical use of and decriminalize possession (of less than one ounce) of cannabis by those over age 18. Hickenlooper opposed the cannabis rescheduling initiative, which voters approved 53.49%–46.51%, but he did say that the vote "reflect[s] a genuine shift in people's attitudes". Under the current Denver Police interpretation of the law, supported by Hickenlooper, the initiative doesn't usurp the state law, the Colorado Revised Statutes (CRS). In 2012, Amendment 64 was added to the Colorado constitution allowing possession of up to one ounce of cannabis for those over 21 for recreational use. Though Hickenlooper has been publicly against this policy as well, he does say he will enforce the will of the people.^[18]

On March 20, 2013, Hickenlooper signed bills HB1224, HB1228 and HB1229. HB1224 created a limit of 15 rounds in magazines that could be bought, sold or transferred within the state. HB1228 taxes firearm transfers to recover costs of the background checks from HB1229. HB1229 requires background checks for any firearm transfer within the state.^[19] Passage of these bills resulted in the recall of Democratic Senate President John Morse, and Democratic senator Angela Giron. Democratic Senator Evie Hudak later resigned rather than face her own recall election on this issue. ^[20]

Mayor Hickenlooper is a member of the gun control group Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition, an organization formed in 2006 and co-chaired by New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and Boston mayor Thomas Menino.

On May 22, 2013, Governor Hickenlooper granted an indefinite stay of execution to Nathan Dunlap, who was facing execution for the 1996 murder of four persons at a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant. The decision came after victims' families asked Hickenlooper to allow the execution of Dunlap to proceed as scheduled.^[21] Hickenlooper stated: "It is a legitimate question whether we as a state should be taking lives.”^[22]

Hickenlooper was viewed as a possible contender for Governor of Colorado in the November 2006 election to replace term-limited Republican Governor Bill Owens. Despite a "Draft Hick" campaign, he officially announced on February 6, 2006 that he would not seek the Democratic nomination for governor. Later, he threw his support behind Democratic candidate Bill Ritter, Denver's former District Attorney, who was subsequently elected.^[23]

Hickenlooper was an executive member of the Denver 2008 Convention Host Committee and helped lead the successful campaign for Denver to host the landmark 2008 Democratic National Convention, which was also the centennial anniversary of the city's hosting of the 1908 Democratic National Convention.

According to The Denver Post, he was considered to be the frontrunner to fill the United States Senate seat to be vacated by Ken Salazar upon his expected confirmation to be Secretary of the Interior in the Obama Administration.^[24] Hickenlooper had confirmed his interest in the seat.^[25] However, on January 3, 2009, Gov. Bill Ritter appointed Denver Public Schools Superintendent Michael Bennet to the position.^[26] Bennet previously served as Chief of Staff to Mayor Hickenlooper.

After Governor Ritter announced on January 6, 2010 that he would step down at the end of his term, Hickenlooper was cited as a potential candidate for state governor.^[27] Hickenlooper stated that if Secretary Salazar mounted a bid for governor, he would likely not challenge him in a Democratic primary.^[28] On January 7, 2010, Salazar confirmed that he would not be running for governor in 2010 and endorsed Hickenlooper for the position.^[29] On January 12, 2010, media outlets reported that Hickenlooper would begin a campaign for Colorado governor.^[30] On August 5, 2010, Hickenlooper selected CSU-Pueblo president Joseph A. Garcia as his running mate.^[31] In the general election, Hickenlooper was elected with 51% of the vote.

Hickenlooper's wife (from whom he is currently separated), Helen Thorpe, is a writer whose work has been published in The New Yorker, New York Times Magazine, George, and Texas Monthly. Prior to the separation, they lived in Denver's Park Hill neighborhood with their son, Teddy.^[32] Upon taking office as Governor, Hickenlooper and his family decided to maintain their private residence instead of moving to the Colorado Governor's Mansion.^[33] On July 31, 2012, Gov. Hickenlooper announced that he and his wife were separating after 10 years of marriage.^[34]

In 2010, Hickenlooper told the Philadelphia Inquirer that he and Thorpe attend Quaker meetings and try to live by Quaker values.^[35]

A cousin, George Hickenlooper, was an Emmy-winning documentary filmmaker before his death in late 2010.^[36] John made a cameo appearance in George's 2010 film Casino Jack.^[37]

Other relatives include Olga Hickenlooper (a.k.a. Olga Samaroff), a concert pianist who was the first wife of conductor Leopold Stokowski, and Bourke Hickenlooper, who served as Governor of Iowa and as U.S. Senator from Iowa.^[38]

Hickenlooper appears in Kurt Vonnegut's novel, Timequake.^[39] In November 2012, Esquire interviewed Hickenlooper as one of the "Americans of the Year 2012".^[40]

• Governor John Hickenlooper official government site
• John Hickenlooper for Governor
• John Hickenlooper at Curlie

Template:Persondata