Gov. John Hickenlooper on Tuesday night made one of his first public, in-depth dives into the , gushing that he thinks his No. 2, , “would be a great governor” and that the contest will be defined by the economy, environment and health care.
“She’s like a Hoover vacuum cleaner of problems. They just disappear, and everyone’s happy,” Hickenlooper said of her when asked about top candidates in the race. Lt. Gov. Lynne .
He added: “I do think she is a remarkably talented person, and if she were to run and to win she would be a great governor. The last thing she needs is for everyone to say, ‘The governor is trying to get her elected’ or ‘pushing her out there to do this.’ ”
Hickenlooper was speaking with Anna Palmer and Jake Sherman . The group also discussed the state of Colorado’s political landscape, the governor’s future aspirations and even a meeting he had with Grateful Dead founding member Bob Weir.
In terms of the 2018 Colorado governor’s race, Hickenlooper also sang the praises of other Democrats in the contest, including U.S. Rep. , former state Sen. and former state treasurer .
“There are so many good candidates,” he said.
Businessman is also running in the Democratic primary for governor. There is also to replace Hickenlooper.
The Democrat also took a swipe at over his health care saying he was upset with how the .
“I was disappointed on the health care thing,” Hickenlooper said. “That he came out and just said, ‘I’m going to support whatever the Senate comes up with. ‘ I was so surprised and disappointed by that because that’s not the Cory Gardner I thought I knew.”
When asked , Hickenlooper declined — as he has before — to rule anything out. .
“The moment I start talking about what I’m going to do after I’m done, the moment I start to pack or do anything, not only do I get distracted but all of my Cabinet, everybody gets distracted,” he said. “I think we are close to doing stuff that really matters. I’m not ruling anything out.”