Denver Mayor Hickenlooper will replace Salazar in Senate

December 23, 12:32 AMCongress ExaminerIgor Derysh

Previous Next

3 comments Print Email RSS Subscribe

Subscribe

Get alerts when there is a new article from the Congress Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use.

Email Address   Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use

Photo courtesy of the AP

The rest of the media can speculate all they want and twiddle their thumbs for the press release to come in but I am calling it right now, Democratic Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper will be appointed by Democratic Colorado Governor Bill Ritter to replace Secretary of Interior-delegate Ken Salazar in the U.S. Senate. 

With Colorado Democrats needing to hold on to their seats in a moderate state, Governor Ritter has to select someone that can hold on to the seat in 2010 when they have to run for election and can raise a ton of money. With Colorado Democrats being scarce as they are, those two preconditions instantly dwindle the list down to Salazar's brother John, U.S. Representative of Colorado's 3rd Dirstrict, and Hickenlooper, one of the most prominent names in the state as he heads a growingly prominent midwestern city.

So why Hickenlooper and not the elder Salazar? Well, the great name helps. But more importantly, its the prominence that Hickenlooper received and the friends that he made as he hosted the 2008 Democratic National Convention this past August. The DNC went off without a hitch, the Mayor did a bunch of interviews and shook hands with a lot of important people and now looks to be the absolute front-runner for the Senate seat.

Another big help to Hickenlooper's case is recent poll numbers showing that he would not only defeat potential GOP opponents such as retiring Congressman, short-lived Presidential candidate, and subtle bigot Tom Tancredo or even the popular two-term Governor of Colorado, Bill Owens, but that he would defeat the two with better numbers than Ken Salazar would have.

Governor Ritter has been adamant about going with the people's choice on this one and that is Hickenlooper. The Colorado seat will be filled without nearly as much glamour or commotion as the remaining Illinois and New York vacancies, but will serve as an important one as Hickenlooper and Senator-elect Mark Udall can hold down the fort in Colorado for years.

 Mayor John Hickenlooper in an interview with The Nation: