Us senator - john hickenlooper

US Senator - John Hickenlooper

Party: Democrat | State: Colorado

Seeking reelection: Hickenlooper announced he is running for reelection in 2026, saying this will be his final Senate campaign.
Public lands: On May 12, criticized the Trump administration's decision to rescind BLM's land management actions, calling it "a blatant attack against the long-term health of our public lands."
Healthcare: Visited Denver Health in early May to hear how rising costs and federal policy changes (including Medicaid cuts) are affecting patients. Called the state of U.S. health care "a cost-of-living emergency."
Water projects: Unfrozen federal funding came through for Colorado's "Bucket 2" water projects after a 1.5-year delay, following Hickenlooper highlighting the need in a Senate ENR Hearing with Secretary Burgum.
Budget floor speech (May 13): Criticized budget priorities from the Senate floor: "We have money for ballrooms and bombs — and tax breaks for billionaires — but nothing for hardworking Americans."
Cost-of-living speech (May 7): Spoke on the Senate floor declaring a cost-of-living emergency: "It's not a crisis anymore. It's an emergency."

Postal service letter: Joined Bennet, Rep. Jeff Hurd (R-CO-3), and Rep. Neguse on a letter to Postmaster General David Steiner raising concerns about postal service.
Primary challenge: State Sen. Julie Gonzales (D-Denver) announced a primary challenge against Hickenlooper for his Senate seat in 2026. Hickenlooper has called this his final campaign.

NCAR & NOAA protection: Joined Bennet, Rep. Neguse, and Rep. Jeff Hurd (R-CO) in a bipartisan coalition to sustain NCAR funding and pushed back against Trump administration plans to dismantle NOAA's Colorado-based Cooperative Institutes. Called the plans "a vengeful attack on Colorado."

First reelection ad launches: Hickenlooper's campaign aired its first statewide 30-second ad on digital and streaming platforms, part of a seven-figure buy that will expand to broadcast and cable when ballots go out in early June. The ad comes six weeks before the June 30 primary, where he faces a challenge from state Sen. Julie Gonzales (D-Denver).
Opposes Pearce BLM nomination: Hickenlooper became the first U.S. Senator to publicly oppose Steve Pearce's nomination to lead the Bureau of Land Management, writing an op-ed in the Denver Post warning about the threat Pearce poses to public lands and the environment.

CFTC prediction markets letter: Sent a letter with Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI) to CFTC Chairman Michael Selig urging the commission to prohibit prediction markets from allowing margin trading in connection with event contracts.

Tina Peters amendment: Hickenlooper plans to force Republicans to vote on an amendment that would prohibit the Trump administration from directing any of the $1.8 billion "wrongful conviction" compensation fund to Tina Peters or others convicted of crimes that affected elections. Peters' sentence was recently commuted.

Healthcare roundtable in Colorado Springs: Hickenlooper hosted a roundtable at Memorial Hospital North in Colorado Springs, hearing from Coloradans on higher premiums, coverage losses, and the impact of Medicaid cuts in the "One Big Beautiful Bill." Hospital social workers and healthcare experts described the phasedown of Medicaid's hospital provider fee as threatening a rising number of uninsured patients and mounting pressure on critical services. Hickenlooper called for reaching Republican votes to rebuild funding, saying he believes some Republicans "were kind of bullied by the White House into this."
Report: 9 Colorado hospitals at risk: Hickenlooper's office released a report warning that nine Colorado hospitals are at risk of service cuts or possible closure due to Republican Medicaid cuts in the reconciliation bill.

Shoshone Water Rights statement: Was among the Colorado delegation welcoming the Interior Department's release of $40 million for the Shoshone Permanency Project. Hickenlooper had earlier co-led a bipartisan letter urging the administration to release $140M in obligated water funding for Colorado River projects, including Shoshone.
Arkansas Valley Conduit (AVC) Act passes Senate: The Hickenlooper-Bennet bill to complete the AVC — a decades-overdue water project for Southeast Colorado — passed the Senate unanimously and is headed to the president's desk.
"One Big Beautiful Bill" passes House: Hickenlooper released a statement condemning the House passage of Trump's reconciliation megabill (215-214). He called it a budget that prioritizes tax breaks for billionaires while cutting healthcare and food assistance for Coloradans. He has pledged to vote no on the DHS funding bill unless ICE is meaningfully reformed. The bill now moves to the Senate.

Wildfire briefing deadline: Today is the deadline Hickenlooper and Neguse set — along with Bennet — for USDA and Interior to brief the Colorado delegation on wildfire response readiness ahead of what is shaping up to be a dangerous fire season. No public response confirmed yet.
$47M Colorado River project funding (May 13): Hickenlooper and Bennet jointly welcomed the Trump administration's release of $47 million for four Colorado projects to address the Colorado River Basin crisis — funds that had been delayed more than 1.5 years. Six of 17 originally announced drought projects have now been funded; $92M more remains unreleased.