The second Democratic governor entered the increasingly crowded 2020 primary field on Monday when former Colo. Gov. John Hickenlooper announced his plans to run – as was widely expected. Hickenlooper follows Washington Gov. Jay Inslee, who announced his campaign late last week.
Hickenlooper, who is best known for overseeing the implementation of Colorado’s legalization of cannabis, is seeking to cast himself as a “can-do uniter” who managed to accomplish liberal goals in a divided swing state, according to the Washington Post.
John Hickenlooper
The former governor and Denver mayor started on his improbable political career after being laid off from his petroleum industry job during the energy bust of the 1980s (he was a geologist). After being laid off, he opened a brewpub on a desolate stretch in Denver during the early 1990s that unexpectedly flourished, allowing him to build a mini-empire of restaurants and bars in the city. Not long after, he ran for mayor in what some called a “Quixotic” campaign. But adds showing him feeding quarters into parking meters to protest the city’s charging for parking down town on Sunday’s helped him clinch an improbable victory.
His announcement video, titled “Standing Tall”, touted the many disasters (both man-made and natural) that occurred during his eight-year tenure as governor.
Like Bernie Sanders before him, he also sought to portray President Trump as a “bully” who must be defeated.
He is expected to follow up his announcement video with an appearance on Good Morning America Monday. After that, he plans to hold a campaign kick off event in Denver before heading to Iowa next week.
With the entrance of Hickenlooper, the already crowded Democratic field swells to 14, including six senators. They are:
- John Hickenlooper
- Jay Inslee
- Elizabeth Warren
- Kirsten Gillibrand
- Cory Booker
- Bernie Sanders
- Amy Klobuchar
- Kamala Harris
- Julian Castro
- Pete Buttigieg
- Andrew Yang
- John Delaney
- Tulsi Gabbard
- Marianne Williamson
Of course, many other candidates – including presumed front-runner Joe Biden – have yet to announce: It’s likely that the field will expand to include two New York City mayors (Michael Bloomberg and Bill de Blasio), Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, and Texas Congressman Beto O’Rourke (another front-runner).
via ZeroHedge News https://ift.tt/2SHMLn5 Tyler Durden