Hickenlooper Still Reigns Supreme

Governor John Hickenlooper, formerly Denver Mayor, maintains his long-established popularity with Denver voters. Hickenlooper burst on the political scene from a business career in 2003 and began his long reign of political popularity. Polls during his career have repeatedly recorded his favorability at 70 percent or higher. In a poll published by the political website ColoradoPols.com for the Denver mayor’s race, Hickenlooper has a 77 percent favorability rating (conducted by RBI Strategies, a Democratic campaign firm).

The poll conducted to measure the status of the mayoral candidates also rated the three most recent mayors. All three – Pena, Webb and Hickenlooper – maintain considerable affection with city voters.

Current ratings are affected by the remembered history and current image of the mayors. Hickenlooper’s advantage, besides the recency of his service, is that he has been able to combine popularity among Democrats (86% favorable) with high levels of support among unaffiliated voters (71% favorable) and considerable support among Republicans (58% favorable). His current rating with Republicans is good in spite of a November partisan election (even if not much of a campaign) and now serving as the Democratic governor.

Pena as Denver’s most activist recent mayor and its most liberal, always had opposition among Republicans (only 35% favorable) and middling favorability among unaffiliated voters (51% favorable). He does maintain a strong position with Democrats (70% favorable).

Webb, while a high-profile Democrat (73% Democratic favorable), kept a good image with unaffiliated voters (61% favorable) and was accepted by a plurality of the GOP (43% favorable).