Hickenlooper, JohnWhat went down at a recent reception honoring the new Colorado Oil & Gas Association president should quiet anyone who’s been doubting that John Hickenlooper’s campaign for governor is underway. The event “turned into a political brouhaha” after the mayor of Denver addressed the crowd, writes The Denver Post. State Senator Josh Penry, who minced no words in casting Hickenlooper as an enemy to the oil-and-gas industry, is “peeved” that the Democrat was allowed to speak in the absence of the leading Republican candidate. Oil & Gas President Tisha Conoly Schuller says Republican contender Scott McInnis was invited to the event, but he had another engagement. We found McInnis making headlines in Windsor, where he ripped Dems on oil-and-gas issues, quoting “Famous Last Words of a Fool” by country singer George Strait (via The Greeley Tribune). The effort didn’t impact his Big Line ranking at Coloradopols, where Hick (pictured) is on top. Meanwhile, an unofficial, non-campaign-affiliated, pro-Hick ad is comparing GOP Chairman Dick Wadhams to Nazi mastermind Adolph Hitler. InDenverTimes wonders if the ad is humor or just poor taste. But Westword thinks the spot is “pretty funny,” noting that Wadhams and his clan get “needled for their invention of the lame ‘Hickenritter’ nickname, among plenty of other things.”