Former Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper Launches Presidential Bid

By Ted Johnson

LOS ANGELES (Variety.com) – WASHINGTON — John Hickenlooper, the former governor of Colorado, announced he is running for president in 2020, joining more than a dozen other Democrats seeking the White House next year.

In a video posted Monday, Hickenlooper emphasized his executive experience, including managing the state emergencies of flooding and fires and the mass shootings at the Aurora, Colo. movie theater in 2012.

“I’m running for president because we are facing a crisis that threatens everything we stand for,” Hickenlooper says as the image of President Donald Trump appears on the screen.

“As a skinny kid with Coke bottle glasses and a funny last name, I’ve stood up to my fair share of bullies,” he says. “Standing tall when it matters is one of the things that really drives me.”

He also highlights his business experience, transforming an abandoned warehouse in a “forgotten corner of Denver” into a brewpub that helped revitalize the neighborhood.

He says that in his years as Denver mayor and later the state’s governor, “I’ve proven again and again I can bring people together to produce the progressive change Washington has failed to deliver.” He cites his ability to pass healthcare and environmental laws as well as stricter gun legislation.

On “Good Morning America,” Hickenlooper said he is the “one candidate out there who has a very strong record of bringing people together and getting things done. We have got to beat . That is essential. But it is not sufficient.”

Hickenlooper is the cousin of filmmaker George Hickenlooper, who died in 2010. He had a cameo playing a senator in George Hickenlooper’s movie “Casino Jack.” Hickenlooper was elected governor of Colorado in 2010 and reelected in 2014.