Sen.-elect John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.)

Date of birth: Feb. 7, 1952
Residence: Denver
Occupation: former small-business owner, mayor and governor
Education: B.A., M.A., Wesleyan University
Family: wife, Robin Pringle Hickenlooper; son, Teddy

Former Colorado Gov. John Wright Hickenlooper (D) began his career as a geologist, earning a master’s degree in the subject at Wesleyan University.  

But after losing an early job, he turned to the restaurant industry, opening a successful Denver brewery and restaurant as well as several small businesses. Those businesses provided a platform for him to enter politics, first as the mayor of Denver, where he served for eight years, and then as the governor of Colorado, where he served another eight years.

Hickenlooper expanded Medicaid in Colorado under the Affordable Care Act, supported background checks for guns following a mass shooting in Aurora, and slowly warmed to state initiatives loosening restrictions on recreational drugs. 

After dropping out of the Democratic presidential primary in 2019, Hickenlooper turned to the Senate, where he won against incumbent Republican Sen. Cory Gardner. Fellow Colorado Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet, also a Wesleyan alum, served as Hickenlooper’s chief of staff when he was mayor.

– Niv Elis