Colorado Politics

Hickenlooper heads to Iowa as presidential decision nears (VIDEO)

A pack of Democratic presidential hopefuls is descending on Iowa in coming days, more than a year ahead of the state’s early presidential caucuses.

And one of the 2020 wanna-bes heading to the Hawkeye State is the still-undeclared John Hickenlooper.

The former Colorado governor is slated to appear at an Iowa house party on Sunday, and then the former brewpub owner will swing by a brewery, a spokeswoman for Hickenlooper’s Giddy Up political action committee told Colorado Politics.

> RELATED: Hickenlooper adds to advisory staff ahead of potential presidential run

U.S. Sen. Kamala Harris of California, a newly announced 2020 candidate, is also expected in Iowa; she will be featured at a CNN town hall event Monday at Drake University in Des Moines. And at least three other Democratic hopefuls are making Iowa stops in coming days, according to local reports.

This week, Hickenlooper and aides are in Washington, D.C., and plan to return for a policy event later in January, the spokeswoman said.

Hickenlooper has been to Iowa before while still governor — he gave a speech in Des Moines in October — as well as to other states for speeches, political events and other appearances. And he plans to visit more early primary and caucus states soon, but hasn’t locked in travel dates, the spokeswoman said.

Hickenlooper appears to have a way to go in introducing himself to Iowa voters.

A December poll commissioned by the state’s largest newspaper, the Des Moines Register, shows 67 percent of the likely Democratic caucus-goers surveyed don’t know enough about Hickenlooper to have an opinion about him.

> RELATED: Hickenlooper’s final news conference as governor: He talks presidential run

In terms of familiarity to Iowa Democrats, Hickenlooper finished 13th among the 19 potential candidates that the newspaper poll ranked. (The Register poll did not rank another Colorado presidential maybe, U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet.)

On the other hand, Hickenlooper did well in the survey among the one-third who do know something about him, with 24 percent holding a favorable impression and 9 percent unfavorable.

The Register says Hickenlooper “pitched himself as a potentially ‘unique voice’ in the presidential race when he visited Des Moines in October. He’s seen as someone who may appeal to traditional Democrats and independents leaning away from Trump.”

> RELATED: Exit interview: Hickenlooper looks back, ahead

The poll of 455 people who said they would likely go to the 2020 party caucus was conducted Dec. 10-13 for the Register by Selzer & Co. The margin of error is plus or minus 4.6 percentage points.

Hickenlooper has been saying, as he does in the video interview posted via Twitter below by KDVR-Fox31 political reporter Joe St. George, that although he’d like to have until April or May to make up his mind about a 2020 run, he expects to announce a decision by March.

“You can’t drag it out,” he said, “…. but you can’t go faster than what gets you the right outcomes.”

Key to Hickenlooper’s decision is whether he and his advisors believe he can gather enough campaign money to compete with candidates from big coastal states, he said.

Then-outgoing Gov. John Hickenlooper stands with his son before the inauguration of Gov. Jared Polis at the Colorado State Capitol in Denver, Jan. 8, 2019. 
AAron Ontiveroz, Denver Post via AP
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