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John Hickenlooper Fast Facts

CNN Editorial Research

Here is a look at the life of John Hickenlooper, former governor of Colorado and former 2020 Democratic presidential candidate.

Personal

Birth date: February 7, 1952

Birth place: Narberth, Pennsylvania

Birth name: John Wright Hickenlooper Jr.

Father: John Hickenlooper Sr., a steel mill executive

Mother: Anne (Morris) MacDonald

Marriages: Robin Pringle (2016-present); Helen Thorpe (divorced)

Children: with Robin Pringle: Jack (December 8, 2022); with Helen Thorpe: Teddy

Education: Wesleyan University, B.A., English, 1974; Wesleyan University, M.A., Geology, 1980

Religion: Quaker

Other Facts

He suffers from prosopagnosia, or face blindness, a medical condition that makes it difficult to remember or recognize faces.

Is the first geologist to become a governor.

He plays a fictional senator in “Casino Jack,” a movie by his cousin George Hickenlooper, a filmmaker who died in 2010.

Hickenlooper struggled in school due to dyslexia.

Timeline

1981-1986 – Works as an exploration geologist for Buckhorn Petroleum.

1988 – Opens the Wynkoop Brewing Company, Colorado’s first brewpub.

2003-2011 – Serves as mayor of Denver.

August 24, 2007 – Hickenlooper sells his stake in Wynkoop Brewing and its associated restaurants to his business managers and employees.

January 11, 2011-January 8, 2019 – Serves as governor of Colorado.

December 4, 2012 – Is appointed vice chair of the Democratic Governors Association.

March 20, 2013 – Signs three gun-control measures into law, including one that will require universal background checks for gun sales.

March 17, 2016 – Launches Skillful, an online service to help people without degrees find skill-based jobs, alongside LinkedIn co‐founder Allen Blue and Zoe Baird, CEO of the Markle Foundation.

March 4, 2019 – In a video titled “Standing Tall,” Hickenlooper announces he is running for president in 2020.

August 15, 2019 – Ends his bid for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.

August 22, 2019 – Announces his Senate candidacy.

June 5, 2020 – Colorado’s Independent Ethics Commission rules that Hickenlooper twice violated ethics laws in 2018. The complaint by a conservative group claims that Hickenlooper violated the state’s gift ban while he was governor. Hickenlooper is later fined almost $3,000 and is not expected to appeal the ruling.

November 3, 2020 – Hickenlooper is elected to the US Senate from Colorado, defeating Republican incumbent Cory Gardner.

August 19, 2021 – In a statement, Hickenlooper announces that he has tested positive for a breakthrough case of Covid-19 after experiencing mild symptoms.

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