John Hickenlooper, Front and Centrist

“Ultimately, I’m running for president because I believe that not only can I beat Donald Trump, but that I am the person [who] can bring people together on the other side and actually get stuff done.” That was the Democratic Governor of Colorado John Hickenlooper announcing his 2020 presidential campaign on March 4. He promises productive, tangible change made possible by centrist policies that will overcome the political polarization which continues to dominate American politics.

A politician, scientist, and entrepreneur, Hickenlooper embodies the politician who takes the moderate path. Despite his deregulatory stance—during his term as governor, he worked to reduce protections on Colorado’s environment—Hickenlooper markets himself as a social and economic progressive. He has earned valuable experience in this regard; he helped develop an Affordable Care Act for Colorado and worked to expand Medicaid in the state. He has also pushed for legislation on gun control, supporting the expansion of background checks and limits on ammunition clips. Just as well, Hickenlooper pushes for tackling climate change, throwing his support behind the newly proposed Green New Deal. And while his opponents may move to criticize this position as uninformed and idealistic, his degree in geology will disagree.

Perhaps most importantly, Hickenlooper has also proven himself to be a reasonable and open-minded politician, a rare breed these days. When Colorado began to push to legalize recreational marijuana use in 2012, Hickenlooper was initially against the idea “I was against it. Almost everybody I know was against it. It’s no fun to be in conflict with federal law,” he told TIME in November. Later on, however, Hickenlooper changed his position and began pushing for marijuana legalization. His open-mindedness is an important quality that many of his fellow Democratic candidates don’t share, and it may very well help him carve out a moderate niche in the 2020 primaries and beyond.

Hickenlooper frames his candidacy on being a centrist and pragmatic Democrat. Many speculate that his moderate nature would fail to win over the highly active and increasingly progressive Democratic party throughout the campaign. But in an era which political polarization dominates and petty partisanship prevents effective legislation from being passed, Hickenlooper’s proven ability to appeal to both Democrats and Republicans and push them toward the middle will be the litmus test for his candidacy.