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Hickenlooper: Looking Forward To Next Step

DENVER (CBS4)- Colorado's next governor is busy wrapping up his duties as Mayor of Denver and getting ready for his new gig.

Governor-elect John Hickenlooper said he knows he has a lot of work ahead of him and also admitted that it still hasn't sunk in yet.

"You know I don't think it has quite sunk in. We took a week off, my wife and I, and we just kind of went off and got away from the cell phone for a little bit and it sank in a little bit. There's still so much to be done as mayor, we're getting that all tied up and need to make sure we have a great transition there. Plus we've got 400 people transitioning to the governor's office," said Hickenlooper.

When asked about job creation, Hickenlooper said that's a priority.

"That's my focus is changing people's attitudes, making them more pro-business. We'll protect the environment, we'll maintain the high ethical standards. We're going to be pro-business and get everyone working together, asking 'What do we want our Colorado to look like?'," said Hickenlooper.

When asked about the party split in the State Legislature, Hickenlooper said he believes the parties can come together and get work done for Colorado.

"The Democrats control the State Senate, the Republicans control the State House, I've been meeting with leadership in all the houses. I think our leadership in the Legislature is committed to having this state move forward and commited to working together," said Hickenlooper. "I take them at their word. Honest to goodness, I am optimistic."

Hickenlooper admitted he has a lot of challenges when moving to the State Capitol.

"It's a steep learning curve. Imagine, I moved out of a brew pub business to into City Hall to run the city government and that was certainly a steep learning curve. As long as you can find the talent and smart people around you, that learning curve, instead of being a burden, becomes a joy," said Hickenlooper.

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