Lt. Gov. Donna Lynne files to run for governor of Colorado in 2018

DENVER – Colorado Lt. Gov. Donna Lynne filed last week to run for governor in 2018 after months of speculation over whether she would aim to take the office after her current superior, John Hickenlooper, leaves office due to term limits.

The “Lynne for Colorado” campaign committee for a possible run filed with the Secretary of State’s Office on Aug. 1, and Lynne made her candidacy official by filing with the office on Aug. 11.

Colorado law requires candidates who are even pondering a run to file within a certain timeframe after their committee files. Lynne’s registered agent, Ethan Susseles, elaborated more on that in a statement to Denver7:

“As a business leader without a longstanding political operation, Donna is using this exploratory phase to identify supporters and to hear from key Democrats across the state. She expects to make a formal announcement in the weeks ahead,” he said.

“This affidavit certifies that I, Donna Lynne, a member of the Democratic political party/organization (if applicable), am a candidate for the 2018 election…for the office of Governor,” the candidate affidavit filing reads.

Her move to file isn’t quite a surprise: Lynne had said for more than a month that she was exploring a run in 2018. She’d said in 2016 she wouldn’t try to succeed Hickenlooper, but said in late July that she would make a formal statement on her decision by early September. That will still be the case, Susseles said.

Lynne enters an already-crowded field of people simply trying to win the Democratic nomination.

Rep. Jared Polis, ex-state Sen. Mike Johnston, Colorado’s former Treasurer Cary Kennedy, and Noel Ginsburg, a Colorado businessman, have already declared their candidacy on the Democratic side.

Rep. Ed Perlmutter was also running as a hopeful to replace Hickenlooper, but dropped out of the race not long after he initially announced he was running.

The Republican field is already packed as well, with 18^th Judicial District Attorney George Brauchler, former state lawmaker Victor Mitchell, and Doug Robinson, who is Mitt Romney’s nephew, among the candidates who have declared.

Lynne served 20 years in the New York City government before she moved to Colorado and became an executive at Kaiser Health.

Hickenlooper told the Denver Post earlier this month that Lynne “would be a great governor” and had already reported that she’d have to file after filing her committee.

“She’s like a Hoover vacuum cleaner of problems. They just disappear, and everyone’s happy,” Hickenlooper told the Post at the time.

This is a developing news story; stay posted to Denver7 for updates.