the problem. In his governor's budget request for 2017–18, he asked lawmakers to allocate $12.3 million from taxes on marijuana to building homes for chronically homeless people. Hickenlooper established the Denver Scholarship Foundation, providing needs-based college scholarships to high school graduates. In May 2007, Hickenlooper was reelected with 88% of the vote. He resigned as mayor just before his inauguration as governor. 2008 Democratic National Convention Hickenlooper was an executive member of the Denver 2008 Convention Host Committee and helped lead the successful campaign for Denver to host the 2008 Democratic National Convention, which was also the centennial anniversary of the city's hosting of the 1908 Democratic National Convention. In a controversial move decried by critics as breaching partisan ethics, the Hickenlooper administration arranged for the DNC host committee, a private nonprofit organization, to get untaxed fuel from Denver city-owned pumps, saving them . Once the arrangement came to light, the host committee agreed to pay taxes on the fuel already consumed and on all future fuel purchases. Also, Coors brewing company, based in Golden, Colorado, used "waste beer" to provide the ethanol to power a fleet of FlexFuel vehicles used during the convention. Governor of Colorado Elections 2010 Hickenlooper was viewed as a possible contender for governor of Colorado in the November 2006 election to replace term-limited Republican governor Bill Owens. Despite a "Draft Hick" campaign, he announced on February 6, 2006, that he would not run for governor. Later, he supported Democratic candidate Bill Ritter, Denver's former district attorney, who was subsequently elected. After Ritter announced on January 6, 2010, that he would step down at the end of his term, Hickenlooper was cited as a potential candidate for governor. He said that if Salazar mounted a bid for governor, he would likely not challenge him in a Democratic primary. On January 7, 2010, Salazar confirmed that he would not run for governor in 2010 and endorsed Hickenlooper. On January 12, 2010, media outlets reported that Hickenlooper would begin a campaign for governor. On August 5, 2010, he selected CSU-Pueblo president Joseph A. Garcia as his running mate. Hickenlooper was elected with 51% of the vote, ahead of former congressman Tom Tancredo, running on the American Constitution Party ticket, who finished with 36.4% of the vote. 2014 Hickenlooper won a tightly contested gubernatorial election with a plurality of 49.0% of the vote against Republican businessman Bob Beauprez. Tenure