John was raised by a strong single mother after he lost his father to cancer when he was just eight years old. He remembers his father teaching him that if you can learn to laugh at something, it can never beat you. John has carried that lesson throughout his life.

John started his career in Colorado as a geologist. After being laid off in the long recession of the mid-80's, he opened the state's first brewpub in a neglected warehouse district in Lower Downtown (LoDo) Denver. He and his partners started multiple businesses, renovating nearly a full block of LoDo warehouses in mixed-use developments that included 90 units of affordable housing. His company led the renovation efforts of more than a dozen historic buildings in cities across the Midwest.

In 2003, John was elected Mayor of Denver. As Mayor, he focused on bringing people together to get things done, just as he'd done as an entrepreneur. He unified all 34 metro mayors to fund and build FasTracks, the most ambitious U.S. transit initiative in modern American history with 119 miles of new track. John made Denver the first large city to provide quality early childhood education for every 4-year old, initiated the most significant police reforms in the City's history, and opened one of the first offices of sustainability in the country.

John served as Governor of Colorado from 2011 to 2019. During his tenure, Colorado's economy recovered from ranking 40th in job creation during the Great Recession to become the number one economy in the country (U.S. News & World Report). As Governor, he expanded health care to half a million Coloradans, established climate pollution limits that served as a national model, and enacted commonsense gun safety measures. He also oversaw the creation of the first regulatory framework in the U.S. for the legalization of recreational marijuana, which has become the gold standard.

John is honored to serve the people of Colorado in the U.S. Senate. From traveling the state to sit down with farmers and small business owners to chairing committee hearings in Washington, John serves in the Senate with the appreciation that when he casts a vote, he represents all of Colorado.