Some business leaders, although Republicans, worked behind the scenes to encourage Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, to run for governor.
Now that he won’t, his business supporters will have to pick sides in what could prove a contentious Republican gubernatorial primary.
“The mayor was the 800-pound gorilla in everybody’s decision-making,” said Tom Clark, executive vice president of the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp. “Hickenlooper would make a great governor. He is in the process of making himself a great mayor.”
What was so appealing about Hickenlooper, a former geologist and restaurateur, was the business sense he brought to his civic duties, said Joe Blake, president of the Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce.
“My money was on him running,” said Tim Jackson, president of the Colorado Automobile Dealers Association. “Everything he had been saying lately reinforced that position.”
The chamber doesn’t endorse candidates, but its members will ask tough questions of all candidates on how they plan to keep Colorado competitive in a global economy, Clark said.
The state is receiving attention nationally for its high dropout rates and its inability to educate a native workforce capable of taking the high-tech jobs companies in the state are offering.
That gap is one reason metro Denver’s business community pitched in $7.5 million to win passage of Referendum C, which lifted a state revenue cap, allowing Colorado to keep more tax money.
Republican candidates Bob Beauprez and Marc Holtzman both opposed Referendums C and D, although to different degrees. Hickenlooper, in contrast, showed his support by jumping out of a plane for a television advertisement.
“The business community likes to see centrist-oriented candidates with predictable personalities and predictable actions,” Clark said.
Hickenlooper has offered strong support for economic-development efforts, he added.
Staff writer Aldo Svaldi can be reached at 303-820-1410 or asvaldi@denverpost.com.
