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Randy Newman wasn't writing about New Jersey in his brilliant song "Political Science,'' but he may well have. New Jersey is the nation's most mocked, maligned and misunderstood state. It's also the most interesting state. Don't laugh. Not best or prettiest or most livable, just most damn interesting.

What other state packs more scenic wonder and cultural/ethnic diversity in such a tiny, tidy package? From swamps to the Shore, refineries to wildlife refuges, we have it all. But you can't see Jersey in just a week or two.

This is a list of 20 spots you need to visit in 2020. It's a mix of old favorites and under-the-radar spots, weekend getaway destinations and quick afternoon jaunts.

I did similar lists in 2017, 2018 and 2019, but this one is all-new.You won't find many of these places/events on tourism websites. Some of them are downright quirky. You didn't expect us to regurgitate the same tired, old places everyone already knows about, did you?

What places are on your 2020 N.J. bucket list?

Roll out a barrel or two at the Deutscher Club beer garden, Clark

The Deutscher Club, established in 1935, is the state's largest German club. About 10 events every year are open to the public, including the Biergarten (June 7, July 12, July 26, Aug. 23). And there are two Oktoberfests open to the public Sept. 7 and Oct. 5.

Step back into the past at Victorian Days, Belvidere

Ladies and gents in Victorian garb (the hats alone are worth the trip), horse-drawn carriages, walking tours of town, an antique and classic car show, vendors, food and a parade Victorian Days is one of the state's 10 most colorful and entertaining fests. It's held in September. Check the website in the coming months for the dates.

Saed Hindash I The Star-Ledger

Visit the Greenwich tea-burning monument and the rest of Cumberland County

The Boston Tea Party was the most famous, but not the only tea-burning ceremony in protest of British rule in the 1770s. There were others in Annapolis, Princeton, Charleston and Greenwich. On Thursday, Dec. 22, 1774, a group of villagers burned a stolen shipment of tea in the town square. In 1908, a monument (photo) was built on Ye Greate Street in Greenwich. The town's annual charity 5k run is called the Tea Burner Race; the logo is a flaming crate. Quaint historic Greenwich is a good jumping-off point for an exploration of Cumberland County, New Jersey's least-known county at least to the rest of the state.

Peter Genovese I NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Meander along Washington Crossing State Park

I grew up minutes from the southern end of Washington Crossing State Park, and years (OK, decades) later, it remains one of the state's underappreciated parks. Start at that south end, with its leafy, lovely views along the Delaware, and then head north. You can pull over at several points and cross footbridges to the D&R Canal Towpath. You can even explore an island Bulls Island Recreation Area, just north of Stockton. Two other charming small towns are along the way Lambertville and Frenchtown. In all three towns, you can walk across the bridge into Pennsylvania.

Peter Genovese I NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Visit an old-school Jersey diner

New Jersey is the diner capital of the world, with about 600 in every nook and cranny of the state. But there's nothing like an old-school diner, one of those stainless steel-shiny, time-warp wonders from the '40s and '50s. A heaping side order of history and nostalgia comes free with every order. Here's my list of the state's 30 greatest old-school diners, ranked. The photo is from Angelo's Glassboro Diner, Glassboro.

Take a choo-choo ride at the New Jersey Museum of Transportation, Allaire State Park

Did you know there is a New Jersey Museum of Transportation? I sure didn't until last year. It's supported exclusively by train fares, souvenir sales and private contributions, is not funded by the state and is staffed by volunteers. It operates the Pine Creek Railroad, one of the oldest operating narrow gauge rail lines in the country. You can ride the train seven days a week from July 1 to Sept. 2, and on weekends in the fall. The fare for the 15-minute ride is $4 for anyone 3 and older.

Order the roast beef and mozzarella sandwich at Fiore's Deli, Hoboken

If I had to bring one N.J. sandwich to my desert island, it just might be the roast beef and mozzarella sandwich at Fiore's Deli in Hoboken. Fiore's, with its red-stencilled window and brick storefront, looks like some old-school deli movie set tin ceiling, fluorescent lighting and a display case filled with olives, roasted red peppers, mushrooms and other specialties. There's no website or official Facebook page and no printed sandwich menu no surprise there. The roast beef and mozzarella sandwich is available Thursdays and Saturdays only.

Finally visit Batsto Village

Batsto Village, like the Great Falls in Paterson, is one of those N.J. treasures that everyone knows about, but too few visit. The site consists of 33 historic buildings and structures, including the Batsto Mansion, gristmill, sawmill, general store, workers' homes and post office. You can take a free guided tour by smart phone, and guided mansion tours are conducted Wednesday through Sunday. The annual Country Living Fair, held in October, is a good day to visit. Batsto is located on Route 542, one of the state's 20 most scenic roads.

John Munson I The Star-Ledger

Take a white-knuckle ride on the Pulaski Skyway

Don't laugh. First of all, the Skyway (no real Jerseyan calls it the Pulaski Skyway) is the state's greatest, grittiest sight: three and a half miles of pure chaos or charm, depending on how you look at it. It snakes and slithers across a shadowy world of warehouses (including one filled with 5 million bottles of booze), bustling container ship depots, belching smokestacks, truck stops, train tracks, power lines, bars, one jail and one sewage treatment plant. It's N.J.'s greatest cheap thrill ride and must be experienced at least once in every Jerseyan's lifetime.

Peter Genovese I NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Spend an afternoon at the Chatsworth Cranberry Festival, Chatsworth

New Jersey is one of the nation's leading cranberry-producing states, and no event pays homage to the scarlet harvest quite like the annual Chatsworth Cranberry Festival. Chatsworth, part of Woodland Township, is considered the unofficial capital of the Pine Barrens. Blink once, and you're in and out of it. Admission to the festival held the third full weekend of October is free, and there are food and craft vendors, music and more.

Smithville

Call Smithville the anti-mall, a great side trip from AC, and just a cool place to shop and hang out. It started as a one- room stage coach stop and is now a cute/quaint/folksy town with 60 shops in an attractive park-like setting. The Historic Smithville Inn the original one was built in 1787 is here, plus three other restaurants, and you can even spend the night in town, at the Colonial Inn Bed and Breakfast. My favorite places at Smithville include the Smithville Bakery, Country Folk, and Underground, the latter for all your punk rock merchandise needs.

Peter Genovese I NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Go on a boardwalk food tour

Boardwalk food gets no respect, and maybe it shouldn't. Underwhelming and overpriced, boardwalk food caters to takes advantage of? a captive audience.

But there is good, even great, boardwalk food out there, if you know where to look. I've spent the past two summers roaming up and down the boards to find the best boardwalk food, visiting 108 restaurants/stands and sampling almost 200 items for the ultimate N.J. boardwalk eats list. Stop stuffing yourself with that awful pizza, icky lemonade and limp fries. Check out my list and schedule your own boardwalk food tour.

Spend a day in Atlantic Highlands

Atlantic Highlands is one of those Shore towns that gets overlooked in everyone's pell-mell rush to the beach. Bayfront setting, vibrant restaurant and cafe scene, one of the state's best breweries (Carton), ferry to New York City: what more could you want? Atlantic Highlands, not to be confused with next-door-neighbor Highlands, is an architectural treasure house, with Victorian, Queen Anne and Colonial Revival homes. Take a guided walk starting at the Strauss Mansion through the Atlantic Highlands Historical Society. Must-stops: the Flaky Tart dessert/pastry shop and Nicholas Creamery, for terrific small-batch ice cream. For stupendous views: Mount Mitchill, the highest natural elevation on the Atlantic Seaboard.

Hike to Buttermilk Falls

Buttermilk Falls may not have quite the grandeur of the Great Falls in Paterson, but getting there is half the fun. The Buttermilk Falls trail winds 1.4 miles from the trailhead in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area to the top of the falls. From there, the trail continues to make a steep climb to the Appalachian National Scenic Trail for spectacular views of the valley below. If there were a list of the state's eight great under-publicized wonders, Buttermilk Falls would be on it.

Peter Genovese I NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Order the country's best Cuban sandwich at La Pola, West New York

West New York boasts a United Nations of food choices Cuban, Colombian, Argentinian, Mexican, Italian and more in one compact package. Dulce de Leche Bakery is one of the state's 10 best bakeries. The late Food Network personality Carl Ruiz called the Cuban sandwich at La Pola the best he's had anywhere. It's a perfect combination of bread, ham, pork, cheese and mojo or marinade. You can imagine the reaction in South Florida when my story about Ruiz's claim appeared; the mayor of St. Petersburg and the official Twitter account of Tampa joined the angry protest.

Find hidden treasure or not-so-priceless junk at a flea market

Junk? Yard-sale castoffs? Tell that to the thousands of people who pack Englishtown Auction, Collingwood Auction and Flea Market and the Columbus Farmers Market New Jersey's three major flea markets on a typical weekend. It's bargain hunting on a grand, cluttered scale, both indoors and outdoors. Flea markets, by the way, have nothing to do with fleas. The term has been an American expression dating back to Dutch colonial days, when there was a Vallie Market in Manhattan. Vallie Market was eventually shortened to Vlie Market and pronounced as "flea market." There's some good eating in the markets. The Chicken Coop at Columbus Farmers Market made my list of the state's best fried chicken spots, and Kate & Al's Pizza and Pete's Pizza, also at Columbus, are highly recommended.

Peter Genovese I NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Chow down on an Italian hot dog at Dickie Dee's, Newark

Dickie Dee's is a hotdog hole-in-the-wall and essential Jersey food experience. It opened in 1958 between Parker and Ridge streets, opening in its current spot, a short stroll from Calandra's, in 1967. Make sure that cell phone is off when it comes time to order and be prepared for the good-natured gruffness of the guys behind the counter. An Italian hot dog is the only hot dog you can get at Dickie Dee's. No chili dogs. No dogs with mustard and sauerkraut. No grilled dogs. Just deep-fried Italian hot dogs, with a fistful of potatoes and onions.

Rent a canoe or kayak at Cranford Canoe Club

Here are two words to put on your N.J. bucket list: Rahway River. Yep. Rent a canoe or kayak at the Cranford Canoe Club and paddle or row your way down that river. Two-hour canoe or single kayak rentals are $25. "Two hours of peaceful water and pretty sights," one happy customer posted on Facebook. "A great quick escape from stress, in a beautiful setting. It's a treasure.'' Reward yourself with ice cream and hot dogs at the concession stand upon your return.

Spend a day in Mullica Hill

Mullica Hill, just off Exit 2 of the New Jersey Turnpike, is one of those oh-so-cute towns New Jersey seems to have the franchise on. Antiques and specialty shops line the main drag, and there are another 15 or so in the Antique Co-Op. Napes at The Warehouse for pizza, and good, albeit pricey, barbecue at 322 BBQ. An upcoming must-event: The 3rd annual Chocolate Walk, on Feb. 8. And one of my favorite specialty markets in the entire state is minutes away, the Amish Market at Mullica Hill. Stop at Beiler's Bakery for breads, donuts and sticky buns, and Chicken Shack (formerly Yoder's) for juicy, delicious rotisserie chicken.

Visit Cloverdale Farm County Park, Barnegat

You can never get enough cranberries. They're one of the highlights at Cloverdale Farm County Park, 90 acres of Pine Barrens wetlands, uplands and cranberry bogs. There's a self-guided nature trailand a cedar-shingled visitors center. The park is open from dawn to dusk every day. County parks are one of the 50 best reasons to live in New Jersey.

Peter Genovese I NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

What's on your travel list?

So what did we leave out? What never-visited places are you determined to hit in 2020? Let us know in the comments section.

Peter Genovese I NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

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The 20 places in New Jersey you need to visit in 2020 - NJ.com

At the end of 2009, the total federal debt was $12.3trilliona staggering amount of money.

Now, it stands at an astonishing $23.1trillion. Thats roughly $180,500 of debt for every U.S. household.

It is important for Americans to understand how we got here,and what lawmakers can do to bring back fiscal sanity.

Poor Handling of the FinancialCrisis

The federal government entered the 2010s with sky-highannual deficits. This had two primary causes.

First, the Great Recession reduced incomes and profits,which meant a sharp decrease in tax revenue. A slow economic recovery kept tax revenuerelatively low for several years.

Second, legislators used the recession as an excuse to massively increase the amount of federal spending. The 2009 stimulus package in particular led to record-setting spending levels.

President Barack Obama largely sold this additional spendingas a way to jump-start the economy. But the structure of the stimulus packagetold another story. The politically motivated design of the package meant thatit was ineffectiveat growing the economy.

What it did do effectively was grow the national debt. Lowtax revenue and high spending combined to generate federal deficits of over $1trillion per year starting in 2009.

Between the big-government stimulus and bank bailouts, millions of Americans were fed up with how both parties responded to the financial crisis. The tea party movement was born out of this backlash, and the 2010 election put dozens of believers in limited government in the House and the Senate.

Deficit ReductionEfforts Fell Short

Two events in 2011 showed both the promise and the limits of the tea partys political muscle. On the positive side, the practice of earmarking spending for narrow political purposes came to an end.

The publics concern over deficits led to the Budget Control Act of 2011, which raised the debt limit in exchange for rules meant to reduce the deficit in future years. The law had serious flaws, and tea party members roundly opposed it.

Although the law did serve to restrain spending for a fewyears, its flaws ultimately proved fatal.

First, the Budget Control Act created an ill-fated Committee on Deficit Reduction, which failed in producing follow-up legislation to reduce future deficits. This failure resulted in spending reductions through the annual discretionary spending process, known as sequestration.

Here, the Budget Control Acts primary flaw came to bear: It didnt create a single spending limit to cover everything, but instead created separate defense and nondefense categories, both of which were cut. This meant that sequestration did not distinguish between the vital work of national defense and the secondary activities, such as politically-driven business subsidies.

Defense-focused members of Congress constantly chafed at thespending limits. This gave leverage to members who desired ever-more domesticspending. As a result, Congress passed a series of bills to increase spendinglimits for both categories.

At first, these increases were somewhat modest and partiallypaid for to avoid growing the deficit. However, they established a precedent thatwould have devastating fiscal consequences.

The 2018 and 2019 spending deals were massive and undid much of the Budget Control Acts deficit reduction. Rather than doing the hard work of prioritizing what areas to spend taxpayer dollars on, the McConnell-Schumer and Mnuchin-Pelosi deals threw away any pretense of federal self-control.

At the same time, Congress has also allowedmandatory programs such as Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaidto balloon. Each of these programs is growing at an unsustainablerate, and combined they threaten to crowdout core priorities such as national defense.

This brings us to a terrifying prospect: The deficit for 2020 is expected to exceed $1 trillion once more. Worse, the deficit is projected to stay above $1 trillion for the rest of the coming decade.

What makes this situation especiallyunconscionable is the strength of the economy. A time of low unemploymentand no major wars is usually an occasion for low deficits and even balancedbudgets. Instead, Washington is abandoning its responsibilities.

But its not too late for that to change.

A Path to SeriousReform

The Heritage Foundations Blueprint for Balance provides a comprehensive guide for responsible policymakers to bring the federal debt under control.

This includes making pro-growth tax reform permanent and expanding on good tax policy; strengthening budget rules to impose fiscal discipline and legislative accountability; reforming Social Security and federal health care programs to target benefits toward the most vulnerable while reducing costs; and eliminating wasteful and inappropriate spending on federal agencies and programs that fail to deliver on national priorities.

Taking this path would preserve individual liberty,strengthen the economy, and enable civil society to flourish. It would also restorefairness for younger and future generations that would bear the burdenof the $23.1 trillion (and growing) national debt.

The 2010s were a decade of debt. The 2020s must be thedecade of balance.

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How the 2010s Became the Decade of Debt - Daily Signal

Tomorrow will see the Duchess of Cambridge turn 38, but the royal has already begun celebrating the occasion. This weekend, the Duke and Duchess welcomed friends to their Norfolk country home, Anmer Hall, for a pre-birthday gathering.

According to US news outlet People, guests are thought to have included Thomas van Straubenzee and his fiance Lucy Lanigan-OKeeffe, Lady Laura and James Meade, the Marquess and Marchioness of Cholmondeley, and Kates parents, Carole and Michael Middleton.

The Duchess of Cambridge

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The friends are a tight-knit group; Thomas van Straubenzee, one of Prince Williams closest friends, is godfather to Princess Charlotte. His fiance Lucy is also a teacher at Thomass Battersea, where William and Kates two eldest children are students. Lady Laura Meade is the godmother of Prince Louis and is married to another member of Williams inner circle, James Meade. David, 7th Marquess of Cholmondeley and his wife, Rose Hanbury, Marchioness of Cholmondeley, meanwhile, have been friends of the royal couple for over a decade. Although last year saw speculation of a falling out between Rose and Kate, there was no sign of animosity among the friends when they joined the Queen at church in Sandringham on Sunday.

The Marchioness of Cholmondeley

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Indeed the Norfolk January weekend seems to have become something of a tradition for the Duke and Duchess, encompassing activities that are thought to include shooting and a dinner with the Queen at Sandringham House.

They royal couple also hosted friends this time last year, before attending the St Mary Magdalene Church Sunday service the next morning. This year saw William, Kate and their friends smartly dressed for the occasion, looking no less worse the wear for the weekends festivities.

Lucy Lanigan-OKeeffe and Thomas van Straubenzee

Getty Images

Seemingly not a fan of lavish celebrations, Vanity Fair reported last year that the Duchess would mark the actual day of her 37th birthday with a small tea party at Kensington Palace, attended by her husband and children. Now back in London in time for the new school term, it is expected that Kate will again celebrate the day itself with an intimate gathering.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge

Getty Images

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In 2010, banks foreclosed on more than a million homes.

In 2010, banks foreclosed on more than a million homes. The jobless rate for the year hovered just under 10%. But billionaire investor Stephen Schwarzman knew who the real injured party was: the wealthy.

When the Obama administration proposed closing the carried interest loophole, a tax break exploited by those in private equity, Schwarzman couldn't contain himself any longer. "It's like when Hitler invaded Poland in 1939," he claimed at a New York City gathering.

This wasn't the tea party, hiding its elite funders under the cover of representing the common man or woman. This was one of the wealthiest men in the United States stepping forward to loudly, proudly and angrily claim he'd been done wrong.

Schwarzman quickly apologized. But if we want to understand how the Great Recession led not to an economic overhaul but to record-breaking inequality and the election of Donald Trump - a-to-the-manor-born serial con artist and practitioner of the 1% whine nonpareil - it's helpful to remember Schwarzman, who turned out to be patient zero for what might just be the decade's ultimate grift: the rise of millionaires and billionaires as victims.

The Great Recession was supposed to embarrass the wealthy into slinking away embarrassed, grateful they didn't land in jail or worse. "There's an angry mob with pitchforks assembling, and they want to see some heads on pikes," Fortune opined in 2009. But as the stock and real estate markets recovered, so did the self-regard of the most moneyed among us. Shame? That was so Dow 7,550. It's now over 28,000.

Schwarzman has many a compatriot. Elite gatherings such as the Milken Institute's Global Conference and the annual World Economic Forum in Davos have become all but encounter sessions for misunderstood multimillionaires and billionaires to agree with one another in the face of calls that they pay their fair share. There's private equity mogul Leon Cooperman, who actually began to cry on CNBC when complaining about Sen. Elizabeth Warren's proposed wealth tax on fortunes in excess of $50 million. "I don't need Elizabeth Warren telling me that I'm a deadbeat and that billionaires are deadbeats," he said.

The rich victims are all around us. Craig Hall, the real-estate tycoon owner of the now infamous ostentatious Northern California wine cave where Pete Buttigieg held a high-dollar fundraiser? He told The New York Times about the criticisms, "It's just not fair." Jacqueline Sackler, wife of a Purdue Pharma heir, the company in part responsible for the opioid epidemic that's taken the lives of hundreds of thousands of Americans? The Wall Street Journal got a hold of an email in which she complained of what she calls the "situation" is "destroying" the family's reputation, and "dooms" her children.

And no one is more practiced at the art of billionaire self-pity than our president. He's the victim of a Democratic "witch hunt." Impeachment? "More due process was accorded to those accused in the Salem Witch Trials." Yet he signed into law a tax plan so favorable to billionaires in general, and real-estate interests in particular, it might as well have been tailored precisely for him.

But according to Republicans, the obscene gains of the wealthy aren't the problem. In 2012, GOP presidential nominee and multimillionaire Mitt Romney, speaking to a group of big-money donors, referred to 47% of Americans who didn't pay federal taxes and needed government benefits to get by as "takers," adding, they believe "they are entitled to health care, to food, to housing, to you-name it." (Entitled to food! Imagine that.)

The Trump administration, which boasts the wealthiest presidential Cabinet ever assembled, has spent almost three years attempting to make it harder for people to receive Medicaid, food assistance and even a free lunch at school. They are aided by self-appointed watchdogs, too, such as Minnesota retiree Rob Undersander, who outed himself as a millionaire so he could publicize the supposedly pressing issue of people who have six- and seven-figure net worth receiving food stamps because their income is below eligibility thresholds. (In fact, survey research shows such households account for about 3% of households receiving assistance via the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program).

Meanwhile, of course, the wealthy make out. Studies show, not surprisingly, that their opinions carry much more weight with politicians than those of more ordinary voters. But the claim of victimization is one way they seek to protect themselves from some popular anger and the financial consequences they might otherwise face, ensuring their power, wealth and privilege remains intact while they can continue to promote their self-perceived unique virtue and smarts. Here's one telling example: Despite Trump's campaign promises, the carried interest loophole remains a part of the federal tax code. Steve Schwarzman, your infamy was not in vain.

Helaine Olen is a contributor to Post Opinions and the author of "Pound Foolish: Exposing the Dark Side of the Personal Finance Industry."

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Column: Decade of the billionaire victim - Milford Daily News

Decades, of course, are arbitrary classifications, but they can help make sense of what would otherwise be an endless churn of chatter and conflict.

As the second decade of the new century draws to a close and Coloradans brace themselves for the advent of the Roaring Twenties, its instructive to consider the personalities who have shaped the states politics in the last stretch.

No politicians have better embodied the tensions and triumphs of their parties over the past 10 years than Democrat John Hickenlooper and Republican Ken Buck.

Both moved to Colorado from the Northeast, perhaps fitting in a fast-growing state where more than half of all residents were born outside its borders.

Hickenlooper grew up in Philadelphia and earned degrees from Wesleyan University in Connecticut, soon landing in Colorado to work as a petroleum geologist during one of the states regular boom-and-bust periods.

Buck hails from Westchester County, a suburb of New York City, and earned a degree from Princeton University before heading west to get a law degree at the University of Wyoming.

In 1986, Hickenlooper was laid off from his job at Buckhorn Petroleum and began considering what to do next, eventually starting a brewpub in Denvers Lower Downtown neighborhood.

That same year, Buck went to work for then-U.S. Rep. Dick Cheney on the Iran-Contra investigation and later took a job in Washington, D.C., with the Justice Department before settling in Colorado to work as a federal prosecutor.

At the dawn of the 2010s, both men were long-serving local officials mounting their first statewide campaigns.

Hickenlooper, serving his second term as mayor of Denver, jumped in the race for governor in 2010 after the incumbent, Democrat Bill Ritter, set the political world on its ear with a relatively late announcement the former Denver district attorney wouldnt seek a second term.

Buck, the district attorney for Weld County, had been criss-crossing the state for months in a long-shot bid for the 2010 GOP U.S. Senate nomination to challenge Democrat Michael Bennet, who had been appointed to the seat a year earlier.

They both burst on the statewide scene in an unpredictable midterm election year dominated by a national backlash to the Obama administrations aggressive moves to address a financial crisis whose effects were still palpable.

It was a roller-coaster year that saw sure-things go down in flames once Republican voters had a chance to weigh in former U.S. Rep. Scott McInnis lost the GOPs gubernatorial nod to newcomer Dan Maes, and Buck wrested the Senate nomination from former Lt. Gov. Jane Norton.

Maes most clearly manifested the spirit of the Tea Party, which emerged to rail against government bailouts in the wake of the Great Recession but swiftly turned on GOP elites, leaving establishment picks like Norton in its wake.

Hickenlooper, who famously launched by taking a shower with his clothes on in an ad decrying negative campaigns, lucked out as the Republican Party tore itself to pieces over Maes, and former U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo joined the field in late summer as a third-party candidate.

Although Hickenlooper and Buck carried their respective partys banners that November, their fortunes diverged on election night, with Hickenlooper winning the three-way race by a wide margin and Buck losing to Bennet by a hair.

Fast-forward to the end of the decade, and both remain among the enduring voices of their parties, though not without plenty of vocal challengers.

Hickenlooper won another term as governor in 2014 and reportedly made the short list for Hillary Clintons running mate in 2016. After running for the White House for a while this year, Hickenlooper gave in to pressure from national Democrats and declared his candidacy for the U.S. Senate.

Hickenloopers evolving position on fossil fuels over the decade from a cozy relationship with oil and gas interests to declaring climate change the defining challenge of our time mirrors the Democratic Partys, though some of his fellow party members complain the geologist didnt get on board fast enough and hasnt gone far enough.

In 2014, Buck won the first of three terms representing the heavily Republican 4th Congressional District in Congress, where he's belonged to the conservative House Freedom Caucus and has been among President Donald Trumps most vocal defenders.

Earlier this year, Buck was elected chairman of the Colorado Republican Party, fending off a challenge from a state lawmaker whose grassroots supporters charged that Buck had grown too cozy with the establishment.

Like Hickenlooper, Buck is said to have his eye on the U.S. Senate and could be positioning himself to challenge Bennet in the 2022 election.

Other politicians have gotten more votes from Coloradans than Hickenlooper and Buck.

Cynthia Coffman was the first Republican to receive more than 1 million votes, when she won her only term as attorney general in 2014. Her total, however, has since been surpassed. The GOP candidate who has gotten the most votes in Colorado is Darryl Glenn, the 2016 U.S. Senate nominee, followed by Donald Trump in 2016, and attorney general nominee George Brauchler in 2018.

Coffman, notably, was the only one of the top vote-getting Republicans who won their race in Colorado.

On the Democratic side of the ledger, Bennet holds the record for the most votes received in the state, in his 2016 win over Glenn, followed by Jared Polis total in his 2018 win for governor and Hillary Clintons 2016 win over Trump.

Among the hundreds of Democrats and Republicans who vied for the titles this decade, two runners-up stand out.

Republican Cory Gardner broke a decade-long losing streak by Republicans at the top of the ticket in Colorado in 2014 when the two-term congressman won election to the U.S. Senate. And he accomplished that by unseating Democrat Mark Udall, marking the first time since 1978 that Colorado senator was denied re-election.

Hickenlooper is hoping to deny Gardner a second term in next year election, but theres no denying a contention made by veteran Republican strategist Dick Wadhams that if Gardner hadnt won in 2014, the Colorado GOP could have been ushered into the wilderness for the rest of the decade.

Battles over taxes, energy and education have consumed plenty of oxygen this decade, but nothing influenced the political climate like the raging debate over health care, and no one incarnates that among Democrats more than Lt. Gov. Dianne Primavera.

The Broomfield Democrat began the decade by losing her bid for a third term in the state House to a Tea Party Republican but regained her seat in the next election and won another term after that.

A four-time cancer survivor, Primavera served as CEO of Komen Colorado before Polis picked her as his running mate. Soon after they were sworn in, he named her to head the governors Office of Saving People Money on Health Care.

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TRAIL MIX | John Hickenlooper, Ken Buck epitomized their parties this decade - coloradopolitics.com