Colorado governor tells New Hampshire crowd he's 'leaning strongly' toward presidential run

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, said he is "leaning strongly" toward running for president. (AP)

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper has announced his intentions to run for president – well, sort of.

While at a New Hampshire café Wednesday, the Democrat said, “I’m the governor of Colorado, and I’m going to run for president,” according to video shared by WMUR reporter Adam Sexton.

After noting he hadn’t said that before, Hickenlooper sought to clarify his plans.

“To be honest, I haven’t made the final decision. And if I say I’m absolutely going to, there are all kind of legal ramifications,” Hickenlooper said.

“I’m leaning strongly” toward running, he said.

According to Sexton, Hickenlooper also told another woman at the café: “I’m John Hickenlooper, and I’m running for president. You’re the first person in New Hampshire I’ve said that to.”

There’s long been speculation that Hickenlooper could throw his hat into the ring for a 2020 presidential bid. He’s already traveled to Iowa and started a political action committee.

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In September, Hickenlooper told Politico he was considering a potential campaign. He said he’s seeking advice from more than a dozen people before making a decision.

“The response in Colorado has been generally not snarky and, ‘Who do you think you are?’ but really, ‘Thank you for all the hard work and, you know, I hope you go for it,'" he said.

Hickenlooper is at the end of his final term as Colorado’s governor. Fox News has ranked the race to replace him as leaning Democrat, with Jared Polis as the Democratic candidate and Walker Stapleton as the Republican.

He’s in New Hampshire Wednesday to campaign with some of the state’s Democrats, according to the Concord Monitor. He was also in New Hampshire over the summer for a family vacation; however, he did speak at a Democratic event and met with members of the New Hampshire Young Democrats during that time, the newspaper reported.