Former Governor of Colorado John Hickenlooper announced he is dropping out of the presidential race, ahead of the third round of Democratic primary debates next month.

“Even though this campaign didn’t have the conclusion we were hoping for, every moment of it has been worthwhile,” Hickenlooper said in a statement on Thursday, Xinhua reported.

Hickenlooper signaled that he will consider running for the US Senate to unseat Republican incumbent Cory Gardner.

Opinion writer Jennifer Rubin applauded Hickenlooper’s exit, saying downsizing his party’s crowded candidate field can help Democratic voters decide on the best person to run against US President Donald Trump in the presidential race.

Hickenlooper announced his candidacy in March, striking a moderate tone among his Democratic opponents. He emphasized on his successful administrative record in Colorado on the campaign trail, but after two appearances on national debate stages, his campaign was lagging behind in securing the poll and donor numbers needed to put him through the third round of debate.

Hickenlooper, 67, previously served as the mayor of Denver and the governor of Colorado. </s> (Reuters) - Five senior advisers are leaving the 2020 U.S. presidential campaign of Democrat John Hickenlooper after staff urged the former Colorado governor to quit the race as his fundraising flounders, a source with knowledge of the situation said.

FILE PHOTO: Author Marianne Williamson and former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper debate during the second night of the first U.S. Democratic presidential candidates 2020 election debate in Miami, Florida, U.S., June 27, 2019. REUTERS/Mike Segar/File Photo

Hickenlooper’s campaign confirmed the departures on Tuesday. On Monday, the candidate announced he was hiring M.E. Smith to succeed former campaign manager Bradley Komar.

The centrist former governor, one of 25 Democrats seeking the party’s nomination to run against incumbent Republican Donald Trump, would not quit, the source said.

Asked whether his staff were let go or quit, Hickenlooper, 67, told MSNBC on Tuesday that it was “a combination of the two - we felt that it was time to make a change.”

“I used to be in the restaurant business and it’s a little bit like putting a restaurant together. Sometimes you don’t quite get the right team in at the right time,” he said.

Staff members discussed the state of the campaign with Hickenlooper at a June meeting, advising him to find a graceful way to bow out of the November 2020 White House contest, said the source, who asked not to be named in order to speak freely.

The campaign has not commented on the June meeting or the fundraising figure, and did not make Smith immediately available to respond.

Hickenlooper brought in donations of $1.1 million the last three months, half of his haul in the first quarter of 2019, the source said. Rivals U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders and South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, announced $18 million and $24.8 million in donations, respectively.

Hickenlooper, who also served as mayor of Denver and made his fortune as a brew-pub owner, has sought to distinguish himself in the crowded Democratic field as a moderate who opposes what he calls the socialist policies backed by Sanders.

Hickenlooper’s campaign has yet to announce his fundraising for the second quarter, which ended on Sunday. Campaigns must submit reports for the quarter by July 15.

He positions himself as someone who as Colorado governor enacted progressive policies with a bipartisan approach.

Others leaving his campaign include finance director Dan Sorenson, who is going to work for the presidential campaign of former Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke; communications director Lauren Hitt; digital director John Schueler and New Hampshire political director Nolan Varee. </s> Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper ended his bid for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination on Thursday, releasing a video in which he nodded at the possibility of a future Senate run.

The announcement comes after three Democrats familiar with the matter told CNN on Wednesday that Hickenlooper was poised to drop out.

"Today, I'm ending my campaign for President," Hicklenlooper said in the three-minute video. "But I will never stop believing that America can only move forward when we work together."

He added: "A little over six months ago, I announced my run for President. In almost every aspect, this journey has been more exciting and more rewarding than I ever imagined. Although, of course, I did imagine a very different conclusion."

Hickenlooper, who struggled to break out of the crowded field of candidates, has not yet decided whether he will run for the Senate as party leaders have urged him to do, sources said. He did not make an announcement on that decision in the Thursday video, but acknowledged the possibility.

"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," the governor said. "I've been a geologist, a small businessman, a mayor, a governor and a candidate for president of the United States. At each step, I've always looked forward with hope. And I always will."

Hickenlooper's exit from the race leaves 23 other Democrats vying for the 2020 nomination.

Hickenlooper framed his candidacy around stemming the leftward lurch of the Democratic Party. The two-term Colorado governor was a moderate voice in the primary, making his opposition to democratic socialism-- including Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders' political philosophy -- central to his campaign.

But that strategy failed to gain traction and Hickenlooper's campaign lost three of its most senior staffers in early July, including Brad Komar, the campaign manager. The losses signaled to many Democrats that Hickenlooper's campaign was on its last legs, but Democrats close to the governor said he wanted to stay in and reassess his chances after CNN's debate in late July.

Following that debate, it appeared the former Denver mayor would struggle to make the stage in the next round of debates in September as he was behind on both the fundraising and polling thresholds for qualification.

Hickenlooper's exit now opens the possibility that the once popular governor could run for Senate in Colorado, challenging Sen. Cory Gardner, a Republican seen as one of the most vulnerable lawmakers in 2020.

Hickenlooper spoke with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York about potentially challenging Gardner following the July debate. He pressed ahead with his presidential campaign following that conversation, visiting the Iowa State Fair in Des Moines this past weekend along with many of the other presidential candidates.

Hickenlooper faces two issues in a Senate run, though: The governor has lambasted the prospect of running for Senate and Democratic Colorado Senate candidate Mike Johnston raised more in the second quarter of 2019 than Hickenlooper raised for his presidential bid.

The former governor spent the first few months of his presidential campaign knocking the idea of him jumping into the Senate race.

"If the Senate is so good, how come all of those senators are trying to get out?" Hickenlooper told CNN earlier this year, a nod to the number of Democratic senators who are running for president.

"The Senate doesn't attract me," he said. "It just doesn't attract me."

But by last weekend, with his presidential campaign nearing an end, he told CNN, "I don't rule anything out."

Even in a crowded Democratic primary, Hickenlooper is still seen as the party's strongest candidate to take on Gardner. Curtis Hubbard, a Democratic strategist for a firm that has worked for Hickenlooper in the past, has recently registered domain names like Hick4Senate.com in the hope that the former governor switches races. </s> • Colorado’s former Democratic Governor John Hickenlooper launched his presidential camapaign on Monday.
• Hickenlooper, 66, served as Colorado’s highly popular governor for two terms. Before that, he was the mayor of Denver and a successful businessman.
• As governor, Hickenlooper developed a reputation as a centrist, pragmatic problem-solver as opposed to a partisan firebrand.

Colorado’s former Democratic Governor John Hickenlooper launched his 2020 presidential campaign Monday.

Hickenlooper, 66, served as Colorado’s highly popular governor for two terms before being succeeded by Democratic Gov. Jared Polis. Before that, he was the mayor of Denver (a non-partisan position) and a successful businessman who founded Colorado’s first brewery pub, helping bring jobs and economic development to Denver.

In December, the Associated Press reported that Hickenlooper was quickly hiring up staff, including pollsters and fundraisers, for his Giddy Up PAC, created in 2017.

As governor, Hickenlooper struck a balance between espousing socially progressive policies on issues such as gun control while making Colorado a desirable home for business interests, including large energy companies.

While some progressives have criticized Hickenlooper for being too friendly to big oil & gas companies, including paving the way for fracking in Colorado, his supporters highlight his ability to work across the aisle and get along with just about anyone.

Read more: Our exclusive with Colorado’s colorful, rising-star governor, the man some Davos elites say could lead Democrats in 2020

Throughout his entire political career, he’s even refused to air any negative ads against his opponents – although that may have to change in the hyper-polarized environment of 2019.

“I think there’s a point where someone like me – I’m an entrepreneur, I’m a problem solver, I’ve been good at bringing people together that historically have been antagonistic,” Hickenlooper told CNN in December.

“Maybe the country needs someone that can bring the divided parts of the country and the divided constituencies back together.”

Hickenlooper touts his record creating jobs, reducing unemployment, and increasing quality of life for rural Coloradans as the high points of his record as governor.

If Hickenlooper’s presidential bid doesn’t succeed, he would be well-positioned to challenge vulnerable Republican Colorado Senator Cory Gardner, who is up for re-election in 2022, or land a cabinet position in a future Democratic administration. </s> Former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper is set to announce Thursday that he is ending his bid for the presidency, a person familiar with the decision tells CBS News.

Multiple people familiar with his plans have said in recent days that Hickenlooper is expected to drop out of the presidential race and spend time mulling a possible bid for the U.S. Senate, where he has faced pressure to take on Republican Sen. Cory Gardner. These people asked for anonymity to speak frankly about his deliberations.

Hickenlooper, 67, a onetime Denver mayor and businessman and geologist by training, served as Colorado governor from 2011 to 2019. He has repeatedly said along the campaign trail, "I'm the only candidate in this race who's actually achieved the big, progressive things politicians in Washington are talking about."

Colorado is one of the top targets in Democrats' efforts to flip the Senate in this next election. The party needs to pick up three seats if President Trump loses reelection and four if he wins. Republicans are defending 22 out of the 34 seats on the map for the cycle. Only two of the 22 seats are in states Hillary Clinton won in 2016: Colorado and Maine.

Hickenlooper launched his presidential campaign about five months ago, hoping to ride the wave of success he's had during his eight years as Colorado's governor. His presidential policy proposals included plans to expand women's reproductive care and enact gun control – measures largely based on progressive policies he oversaw in the Rocky Mountain State.

But Hickenlooper has struggled to have a breakout moment on the campaign trail and has instead been focused on challening Sen. Bernie Sanders on Medicare for all, the Green New Deal and Sanders' support for "democratic socialism."

In July, Hickenlooper finally got headlines but those headlines came when six senior staffers left the campaign. A source cited poor fundraising as an indicator of trouble in the water. The former governor raised at least $1.1 million in the second fundraising quarter, a little over half of what the governor raised in the first quarter of his presidential race.

Some of his senior staff had hoped he would explore a Senate run but the six individuals left when Hickenlooper confirmed he would not fold, according to the source familiar with the campaign.

"I don't think that's my calling card," said Hickenlooper, who answered reporters' questions on running for Senate during an Iowa campaign stop just a few days later.

The campaign continued to insist Hickenlooper was staying in the race. He launched a second Winnebago tour through Iowa and just this past weekend, addressed voters at the Iowa State Fair Political Soapbox. Afterwards, Hickenlooper again answered questions of a Senate-run, telling reporters if he was going run for president, he and his staff had to stay "laser-focused."

But just four days before then, The Gazette reported Hickenlooper as having said, "I've never ruled anything out," in a satellite radio interview.

Eleven Democrats have already have filed to run in the Colorado primary against Gardner and a few of them are raking-in cash. Former state Sen. Michael Johnston raised $1.6 million and former Ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe Dan Baer raised $1.1 million in the second quarter. Hickenlooper in his presidential bid only raised around $1.2 million, according to Federal Election Commission filings. </s> Former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper has tossed his hat into the Democratic presidential ring. He announced his 2020 candidacy early Monday with a campaign video that hits the highlights of his career as a two-term governor and two-term Denver mayor. He addresses recession, droughts and floods, and the mass shooting in Aurora in 2012.

Hickenlooper just finished his second term in the statehouse. He was a popular, pro-business governor. He left Colorado with a strong economy and his tenure was marked by an emphasis on consensus-building.

It's that record that he's touting in the campaign video. "I'm running for president because we need dreamers in Washington but we also need to get things done," Hickenlooper says in the video. "I've proven again and again I can bring people together to produce the progressive change Washington has failed to deliver."

As governor, Hickenlooper also signed an expansion of Medicaid in 2013. He has not expressed support for a single-payer health system.

Hickenlooper was the first Denver mayor to be elected Colorado governor in 120 years. And he won election as mayor of Denver with no political experience. He was re-elected in 2014 after running an entirely positive campaign.

He was considered one of the nation's most effective mayors -- in 2005, Time named him one of its five top big-city mayors.

Hickenlooper was an amiable, business-friendly mayor who was able to lower the city's deficits by cutting costs and by persuading voters to accept sales taxes to pay for a new mass transit system. He also expanded pre-Kindergarten to every 4-year-old.

Hickenlooper followed an unusual route into politics, beginning his professional life as a geologist with Buckhorn Petroleum in the 1980s. But the oil bust in the mid-'80s cost him his job in 1986. There were no jobs to be had in the oil industry, so Hickenlooper went into the brewpub business, opening the Wynkoop Brewing Co. The brewery was a success, and it made him a millionaire.

Hickenlooper, the second governor or former governor to announce a Democratic presidential bid, follows Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, who entered the fray last week. Hickenlooper will kick off his campaign at a hometown event in Denver Thursday. Then it's on to Iowa.

In September, Hickenlooper announced the formation of a leadership PAC, the Giddy Up PAC. Last year, he traveled to early-voting primary states like New Hampshire, Iowa and South Carolina.

Hickenlooper has opposed a number of Trump administration policies, including plans to scale back on federal coal emission restrictions, and has been generally critical of the president's approach to business.

Over the summer, he called for an investigation into the separation of thousands of children from their families at the border, and he opposed the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court. </s> Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper announces campaign for 2020 Democratic presidential nomination

DENVER (AP) — Former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper announces campaign for 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. </s> Former Governor of Colorado John Hickenlooper becomes the 14th Democrat to announce a presidential bid, and the second governor after Jay Inslee to do so.

“I’m running for president because we’re facing a crisis that threatens everything we stand for,” Hickenlooper said over a picture of Donald Trump in a campaign video titled “As a skinny kid with Coke-bottle glasses and a funny last name, I’ve stood up to my fair share of bullies,” he said.

Hickenlooper has teased a run for months. Originally an oil industry geologist laid off in the 1980s, Hickenlooper opened a brew pub that he eventually grew turned into multiple restaurants and bars, giving him a background as a successful entrepreneur and executive. At 50, he became mayor of Denver and eventually Colorado governor for eight years when his term ended January 2019.

Hickenlooper is emphasizing his ability to work with a divided legislature, the state’s achievement of health care coverage for 95% of the population, high job growth, environmental laws, and universal background checks for gun purchases and bans on high-capacity gun magazines (more than 15 rounds) after the Aurora mass shooting. Under his watch, Colorado also legalized recreational marijuana.

“I’ve proven again and again that I can bring people together to produce the progressive change that Washington has failed to deliver,” Hickenlooper said.

Some Democratic strategists and consultants note that Hickenlooper has the executive experience the resumé of a governor offers, according to the . But he still lacks an overriding issue that could capture attention and let him pull away from the crowded field. </s> John Hickenlooper, the beer entrepreneur turned politician who touted a talent for “bringing people together” to heal a divided country, will end his campaign for the White House on Thursday, The Denver Post has confirmed with two sources.

The former Colorado governor is expected to announce his decision in a taped video that is tentatively scheduled to be released at 11 a.m., an aide to Hickenlooper said.

Hickenlooper’s departure from the crowded 2020 Democratic field, first reported by CBS4, comes as national party faithful stepped up pressure for him to instead take on Republican U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner. Hickenlooper has not yet decided whether he’ll mount a Senate campaign — an idea he had rejected repeatedly in recent months even though polling showed he would far outstrip the current Democratic field.

Hickenlooper’s presidential bid focused heavily on his track record as Denver mayor and Colorado governor. He led the state out of the Great Recession to become one of the strongest economies in the nation. Under his tenure, he also signed a number of progressive policies into law, including a suite of gun control bills and civil unions for same-sex couples.

However, Hickenlooper’s centrist image as a Western governor bent on cooperating with Republicans never caught traction with the Democratic base.

His exit will leave one Coloradan, U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, in the Democratic primary field of about two dozen candidates.
Former Colorado governor John Hickenlooper announces that he is suspending his presidential campaign.