Colorado State Senator John Hickenlooper will not seek a third term if he is re-elected to the U.S. Senate in 2026, his campaign team confirmed Wednesday.
Hickenlooper, a Democrat who first won election to the Senate in 2020, first told Punchbowl News of his plans on Wednesday, saying he would serve only two terms. Last year, he told reporters in Colorado he intended to run for re-election in 2026.
A campaign spokesman confirmed the senator’s plans to the Denver Post, but declined to comment further, referring only to previous statements by Hickenlooper in which he had spoken out in favor of term limits.
If Hickenlooper, 72, wins a second term in 2026, he will be 80 when his seat is next up for debate in 2032. In response to a Post question last year about the age of key congressional leaders, Hickenlooper said he supports a two-term limit for U.S. senators (there is no such limit in either chamber of Congress).
Before serving two terms as governor of Colorado, Hickenlooper served as mayor of Denver. He easily unseated Republican U.S. Senator Cory Gardner in 2020, two years after leaving the governor’s office. Before announcing his run for Senate, he briefly campaigned for president in 2019.
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