CNN "Wolf" - Transcript: 2014 Election and Marijuana Legalization

Interview

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BLITZER: A victory by the incumbent Colorado governor was one of a few bright spots for the Democrats. John Hickenlooper managed to stave off his Republican challenger, Bob Beauprez. But it was a close vote.

The Colorado governor is joining us live from Denver.

Governor, congratulations to you. I know you're happy you won.

But why did the Democrats generally do poorly? The Democratic Senator, Senator Udall in your state, he lost, so many other Democratic incumbents lost. Why do you believe Democrats fared so poorly this time around?

JOHN HICKENLOOPER, (D), GOVERNOR OF COLORADO: Well, clearly, it was a steep hill. There's a lot of dissatisfaction and a lot of reasons for that. I think there's a resistance against what -- the kind of stagnation and things not happening in Washington. Also the economy is recovering, consistently, but it's still a slow recovery that isn't affecting -- hasn't gotten down to a lot of working people yet. So there's a frustration on that level as well.

BLITZER: Did the president -- how badly did the president hurt Democrats, let's say, in your state?

HICKENLOOPER: Well, there's probably some effect, but it was more dissatisfaction with people's -- where they are in life. And they haven't got a raise in a few years. We're working -- Colorado has one of the fastest-growing economies in the country, so it shouldn't have mattered as much here as other places. Even Republican incumbents like Scott Walker or Rick Schneider in Michigan, they faced serious challenges as well. It was a tough year for any incumbent.

BLITZER: The Republican governors, generally speaking, they did pretty well, the incumbents. The Democrats not so well. The Democrats even losing in really Democratic states like Maryland, Massachusetts, even the president's home state of Illinois. I think some sort of message was sent. If you're a Democrat out there, what was the message?

HICKENLOOPER: Well, the message was to make sure that you -- again, what we talked about in our campaign was that we were going to be relentlessly pro-business, that this state was going to be the most pro-business state in America but with high standards, the cleanest air, cleanest water. We're going to hold ourselves accountable at the highest level.

BLITZER: Couple questions our followers on Twitter wanted know ask you. How is that legalization of marijuana in your state of Colorado working out?

HICKENLOOPER: I'm amazed it took you this long to get to the question.

(LAUGHTER)

It's actually, we're getting there. We continue to focus on making sure that teenagers, you know, kids whose brains are still maturing, they don't get access to the high THC marijuana. Scientists continue to warn us THAT this could have permanently diminished long-term memory. But the rest of the regulatory framework is coming along well, I think.

BLITZER: It's going to stay will. A few other states voted to legalize marijuana as well. No effort serious effort to get rid of that legalization in Colorado?

HICKENLOOPER: No, I don't think so. I opposed it. Most of the elected officials out here opposed it when it was on the ballot a couple years ago. The voters have spoken and we are working as hard as we can to create a regulatory framework that will work. You know as well as I all the conflicts between state law and federal law, we can't -- our banks can't bank the marijuana business. There are plenty of challenges. We're trying to work through them.

BLITZER: So if a fellow governor from another state asks you for your opinion, what do you say to him?

HICKENLOOPER: I'm the chair of the National Governors Association, so I do get asked fairly often. What I say is you should wait a couple years. Don't go out. I don't think any state should do it just for tax revenues or, you know, that kind of revenue decision. Let's see what the unintended conflicts, whether it can really diminish them to a point where this new system makes sense for everyone.

BLITZER: One final question. I know the president called you yesterday to congratulate you. Did he have a specific message he wanted to deliver?

HICKENLOOPER: I teased him that I won because I played pool with him. He laughed but said, no, that wasn't the case. He was offering congratulations and just wanted to make sure -- I think he said the same thing to governors across the country, that they wanted to work in partnership and do anything they could to help our states. And certainly, when we had the wildfires and the floods out here, we had that terrible shooting in Aurora, the federal government, the White House, and Congress, worked very effectively as partners with us to help us recover.

BLITZER: You got a beautiful state, Colorado. Love Colorado. And I want to just congratulate you once again on your re-election.

Governor Hickenlooper, thanks very much for joining us.

HICKENLOOPER: No, thank you very much. We love that Colorado is everyone's second-favorite state. Those who live here, it's our favorite state.

(LAUGHTER)

BLITZER: I suspect with that legalization of marijuana tourism in your state is going up, is that right?

(LAUGHTER)

HICKENLOOPER: It's been going up steadily for about 10 years, so I'm not sure we've seen a change because of marijuana but there's no indication that it's hurt it.

BLITZER: All right. Thanks very much, Governor, for joining us. Good luck to the folks in Colorado.

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