John Hickenlooper has qualified for the June 30 primary, earning a spot on Democratic ballots by turning in the requisite number of valid signatures, the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office announced Monday.
Hickenlooper, a former governor and Denver mayor, is running for U.S. Senate. He is the first candidate to qualify for the Democratic primary, but at least one other candidate is likely to join him on the ballot.
Hickenlooper’s campaign said he will no longer compete in the assembly process, the other way candidates can achieve June 30 ballot access. Andrew Romanoff won the March 7 caucuses, the first step in the process, and is expected to land on June ballots as a result. Hickenlooper’s delegates are no longer bound to him.
“This will allow us to focus completely on winning the nomination in June,” Hickenlooper said in a video Monday, “and defeating Cory Gardner in the fall.”
Hickenlooper turned in nearly 15,000 valid signatures last month, before the spread of coronavirus and a state of emergency drastically hampered signature-gathering efforts. The not to extend a March 17 deadline for U.S. Senate candidates to hand in the required 10,500 signatures — 1,500 from each of Colorado’s seven congressional districts.
“Colorado has a chance to replace Cory Gardner with a progressive champion,” Romanoff said in a statement Monday. “That’s why we’re asking everyone who caucused for Hick to join us instead.”
