Consider the names: Leo Kiely of Coors, Sports Illustrated columnist Rick Reilly, former Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Tom Strickland, Kiki Vandeweghe of the Nuggets, former University of Denver president Daniel Ritchie, former state Republican Party chairman Bruce Benson, even Marc Holtzman, a Republican gubernatorial hopeful.
All contributed to John Hickenlooper’s Denver mayoral campaign two years ago.
And that was before he beat long odds to persuade voters to pass the $378 million jail bond issue, the $4.7 billion FasTracks project and the gnarly city personnel reform measure.
The range of his support in the region is breathtaking. Polls have shown his approval rating in Denver as high as 92 percent and his statewide name recognition higher than Republican candidate for governor U.S. Rep. Bob Beauprez.
So it’s no wonder that the word murmured by every political junkie in town after Rutt Bridges dropped out of the race for the Democratic nomination for governor last week was “Hick.”
Or, in the case of the Republican candidates, a word that rhymes with Hick, or hit, or quit.
When Bridges said he didn’t have the “stomach” for the game and walked away from the campaign on Thursday afternoon, leaving former Denver District Attorney Bill Ritter the sole candidate for the Democratic nomination, the rumor mill went from a whisper to a roar.
In fact, that jangling sound you heard Friday was phones ringing from Denver to Aspen and all the way to New Hampshire, where Hickenlooper and his family were attempting a relaxing vacation.
Even with Hickenlooper two time zones away and revealing no clues about his intentions, the buzz about who might join the race was deafening.
“And you know as well as I do that the name on the top of that list is Hickenlooper,” said Al Yates, former president of Colorado State University.
Hickenlooper has been on that list for months, but few expected the mayor even to consider the race as long as Bridges, a close friend, was running.
Colorado Democratic Party chairwoman Pat Waak, who was in Aspen for the Democratic Governors Association meeting, said her cellphone was ringing nonstop – though not with calls from hizzoner – so all she could do was repeat his statements from the past:
“I have had four conversations with John about the race, and each time he has said he is not interested in running.
“But candidates change their minds.”
Polls – both the high-priced scientific ones and casual Internet noodlings – consistently have shown Hickenlooper and U.S. Sen. Ken Salazar to be the strongest Democratic candidates in the state.
And while nobody would admit to personally urging the mayor to run, every political consultant I reached on Friday claimed to know that a campaign to draft him is mobilizing.
“A lot of people would love to see him in this race,” said Andrew Hudson, an adviser to Hickenlooper during his run for mayor. “One thing he doesn’t face anymore is skepticism about his ability.”
Among those who are thought to have discussed the race with hizzoner is the Democratic National Committee chairman. “I know Howard Dean had a conversation with John Hickenlooper when he was in town recently,” Waak said.
Ted Trimpa, an attorney at the politically connected law firm of Brownstein Hyatt & Farber and an adviser to Democratic activist Tim Gill, said, “All eyes will be on John.”
Meanwhile, Hickenlooper remained irritatingly unavailable for comment.
And some say that was a good thing, that he should bide his time before making any decision, maybe put his considerable popularity behind passing Referendums C and D in November, and then ride the wave into the governor’s office.
If that’s what he wants. Which is a big if.
“The mayor’s a very potent political figure,” said political consultant Maria Garcia Berry, who co-hosted a fundraiser for Beauprez on Friday. “I would like him not to run.”
Stay tuned.
Diane Carman’s column appears Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. She can be reached at 303-820-1489 or dcarman@denverpost.com.
