“Starting today, we put aside our differences,” Hickenlooper said. “We reach out to Republicans and Democrats and Un-affiliateds. We begin working on getting this economy back on track.”

Hickenlooper named his running mate, Joe Garcia, and entrepreneur John Huggins to lead the transition to the governor’s office.

He said the team will hold public meetings at eight locations across Colorado to gather input from a diverse group of people.

The transition team will be called Partners for Colorado. It can be found online at www.PartnersforColorado.com.

The governor-elect said he wants to find people who can work together.

“If one person on your team has great attention to detail and another person has great business skills, you may need someone with a sense of urgency. We’ll try to assemble teams where they really complement each other,” he said.

While Hickenlooper prepares to move across the street from the City & County Building to the State Capitol attention is now turning to the question: Who will replace him?

So far, six people have registered with the Denver Clerk & Recorder to run for mayor. Among them: Metro State College student Michael Forrester, Dwight Henson, former Parks & Recreation Director James Mejia, Ken Simpson, city employee Danny Lopez and Denver City Councilman Doug Linkhart, who officially announced Wednesday that he is running.

“Any candidate can stand up here and make grand promises and tell you what you want to hear,” Linkhart said. “I’m the guy who has a track record of working with people from all parts of the community to turn words into action.”

In addition to the six that who have filed to run, there are several others who have expressed interest.

State Sen. Chris Romer, City Councilman Michael Hancock, City Councilwoman Carol Boigan, former state lawmaker Penfield Tate and Walter Isenberg of Sage Hospitality Resources may throw their hats into the ring.

Hickenlooper will be sworn in as governor on Jan. 11.

Once that happens, Bill Vidal, Manager of Public Works and Deputy Mayor, will become Mayor until the municipal election next May.

When asked if he had any advice for his successor, Hickenlooper said, “Be nice and work hard.”