The man who was arguably the top recruit for Democrats in the wake of the retirement of Governor Bill Ritter in Colorado has apparently made his decision, and it is in the affirmative:
Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper has told top Democrats he intends to run for governor, sources tell The Denver Post.
Hickenlooper has been meeting with key advisers since Democratic Gov. Bill Ritter last week unexpectedly announced he was dropping his re-election bid.
"Hick is absolutely in," said a political consultant who asked not to be named because they were not authorized to speak on the mayor's behalf.
The sources said the announcement could come as early as this afternoon.
Hickenlooper has been the mayor of Denver since 2003, and had been encouraged by both President Obama and former Senator (and current Interior Secretary) Ken Salazar to make the race.
His likely Republican opponent will be former Western Slope Congressman Scott McInnis, who seems to have had the field cleared for him on the GOP side.
Daily Kos, with our polling partners at Research 2000, are in the field in Colorado this week, and will have numbers on this race in the very near future.