John Hickenlooper

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Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, a Democrat, said Interior Secretary Sally Jewell is receiving one-sided advice from staff at the Fish and Wildlife Service over the issue of whether to place the Gunnison sage grouse on the endangered-species list. (associated press photographs)

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Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper said residents of his state "don't really like outside organizations meddling in their affairs," referring to groups from out of state that got involved in a pair of state Senate recall elections. Despite their help, two Democrats lost their seats over gun control. (Associated Press)

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**FILE** During a two-day tour of rural parts of the state, Colorado Democratic Gov. John Hickenlooper leaves the A.R. Mitchell Memorial Museum of Western Art, in Trinidad, Colo., on Aug. 14, 2013. (Associated Press)

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Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper has signed into law every measure sent to him by the Democrat-controlled legislature, including the Voter Access and Modernized Elections Act, passed with no Republican votes. The act allows same-day voter registration and makes mail-in voting the norm. Critics of the law fear it will turn the two recall elections Tuesday into a statewide free-for-all. (Associated Press)

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Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper, facing a secession movement, said "when I think of Colorado, it means all of our diverse communities and people." (ASSOCIATED PRESS)

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Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper faces a declining approval rating following a legislative session described as the most liberal in state history. Mr. Hickenlooper made a much-criticized decision to grant an indefinite reprieve of execution to death row inmate Nathan Dunlap. (Associated Press)

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Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper on May 22 granted Nathan Dunlap a "temporary reprieve," putting off indefinitely his execution on death row for the 1993 shooting deaths of four employees at an Aurora, Colo., restaurant. (Associated Press)

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Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper is considering a request to spare the life of a convicted killer. (Associated Press)

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Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper is considering a request to spare the life of a convicted killer. (Associated Press)

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**FILE** Colorado Senate President John Morse (left) joins Speaker of the House Mark Ferrandino, Denver Democrat, in listening as Gov. John Hickenlooper delivers the annual State of the State speech before a joint session of the Colorado Legislature in the State Capitol in Denver on Jan. 10, 2013. (Associated Press)