Ted Wheeler's head hit the pillow around 11 p.m. Election Day, just three hours removed from celebrating one of Portland's most commanding political victories in decades.

Wheeler had good reason to get some rest. Portland's newly minted "mayor-elect" had already scheduled a press conference. In front of City Hall. At 6 a.m.

That daybreak scene epitomizes Wheeler's ascension as Portland's prime powerbroker - and the simultaneous weakening of lame-duck Mayor Charlie Hales. And it signals the strong potential for an awkward seven months until Wheeler officially takes over.

It's been 32 years since a Portland mayor has seen a successor from outside City Hall named in May. By winning the open seat now, instead of November, Wheeler has far more time to set priorities, select staff and build relationships -- though so far he's declined to say who's helping with his transition.

Most importantly: Wheeler's opinion now matters, especially on the big stuff.

"The power shifts pretty quickly," said Len Bergstein, a longtime Portland lobbyist and sometimes pundit. "Most people who seek decisions out of City Hall are heat-seeking missiles, and they've got a way of figuring out who has the heat and who doesn't."

While Wheeler and Hales are saying the right things about a cordial transition, they have a frayed relationship and haven't spoken -- beyond trading voicemails -- since Tuesday's primary election. They're not scheduled to meet until June 2.

For his part, Hales expects the transition will be "fine" and doesn't foresee hiccups in pushing his priorities, even with a successor in the wings.

"We've had elections before," said Hales, who abruptly dropped his re-election bid last year after Wheeler challenged him.

Wheeler found himself in a similarly awkward position 10 years ago, when he beat Multnomah County's incumbent chairwoman. But the circumstances are different this time because Wheeler is now Oregon's elected treasurer, with duties he must balance until year's end.

As far as Wheeler's concerned, "it's on me" to ensure a successful transition with Hales. But when asked about the state of their relationship right now, Wheeler demurred.

"I'm not sure I want to go there," he said, calling Hales "classy." "It's exactly what you would expect it to be."

"Exactly where I stand"

If all goes as planned, Wheeler hopes to make his mark shortly after taking office Jan. 1 -- if not before.

Among his top priorities, in order: stopping widespread tent camping, implementing a just-cause eviction process and beginning the slow crawl toward stronger community policing.

"You've got to strike while the iron's hot," Wheeler said in a 45-minute interview from his campaign headquarters. "Part of the transition is identifying what comes first: Where do you want to make the biggest impact the most quickly?"

To be successful, Wheeler knows he'll need buy-in from Portland's four city commissioners.

He appears to be on his way.

Nick Fish was the only commissioner to endorse in the mayor's race, picking Wheeler over 14 opponents. Fish is positioned to be Wheeler's strongest ally and presumably a reliable second vote toward building majorities - like the relationship then-Mayor Sam Adams and then-Commissioner Randy Leonard shared from 2009 to 2012.

While Wheeler won't have any formal say until Jan. 1, Fish said the mayor-elect will nonetheless have an important soapbox.

"He will be inevitably woven into the narrative," said Fish, who, like Wheeler, has objected to Hales' tent-camping policy. "And when he is supportive or critical of what the council is doing, that has more weight now because he's the mayor-elect."

Commissioner Dan Saltzman has also reached out to Wheeler to offer early support through the transition. It could be the start of an early three-person coalition -- and those ties could make it more difficult for Hales to muscle through what's left of his agenda.

Wheeler said it's not appropriate to spend the next seven months being critic-in-chief to Hales. But he recognizes his newfound clout, and said he expects to speak with each city commissioner several times a week.

Wheeler isn't sure how frequently he'll meet with city bureau directors, although he expects to spend a lot of time with officials who oversee housing, transportation, police, building permits and sewer services.

"They'll know exactly where I stand," he said of city leaders.

Commissioner Steve Novick, who is fighting to keep his seat in a November runoff, said he can envision scenarios where Wheeler's preferences would matter before taking office.

"I don't imagine that we'll be going to Ted and saying, 'Are you OK with this?' because we don't always do that with the existing mayor," Novick said.

But at the same time, Novick said, a presumptive 3-2 vote by Hales' City Council might not be worth it if Wheeler is vocally opposed.

"It's a situation that could be changed at the drop of the hat once he gets in," Novick said. "So why bother?"

"He's a grownup"

Portland's mayoral transition will be unlike any in 32 years.

Although Adams won in the 2008 primary, he was already a city commissioner with relationships inside City Hall. Just as important, Adams didn't enter the race until Tom Potter decided not to seek a second term, though Potter did ultimately support Adams' opponent.

Back in 1984, however, barkeep Bud Clark upset Mayor Frank Ivancie in the primary. "We had very little communication," Clark remembers of the transition.

But that didn't stop city bureaucrats from reaching out. His chief of staff, Chris Tobkin, remembers quickly becoming inundated with memos and binders.

"It was stacking up against the wall in the campaign office because nobody knew what to do with it," she said.

Wheeler's already been though one potentially difficult transition -- and he heaps credit on his predecessor at the time for helping him succeed.

In 2006, Wheeler overwhelmingly defeated Multnomah County Chairwoman Diane Linn in the primary. Linn could have made things difficult. She didn't. A few weeks after losing by 46 percentage points, Linn honored Wheeler's request to walk with her in the Portland Pride Parade.

"That was a healing, and important, thing to do," Linn said.

Wheeler remembers Linn offering up her leadership team and allowing frequent meetings with department leaders. Wheeler's office was just outside hers.

"She had no reason to want to work with me," Wheeler said. "And she did everything exactly right."

Linn said she had an obligation to fulfill her term as chairwoman but also to get Wheeler up to speed.

"I did not feel like he took over as county chair until I left office," she said. "The handoff was as smooth as possible."

Wheeler's transition with Hales has a similar dynamic. Although Wheeler didn't defeat Hales, that was the plan when he entered the race last fall.

Hales ended his re-election bid soon after, unable to win over campaign donors who had flocked to Wheeler.

"It's a strange, emotional time for Mayor Hales," said Saltzman, who will have witnessed four mayoral transitions during his five terms on City Council.

"He did want to be mayor for a second term. He's dealing with the person who was largely the undoing of that - at least the personification of the undoing of that," Saltzman said. "It's tough. But he's a grownup, and I think he can deal with it quite capably."

City office in the works

In other ways, the handoff from Hales will be different.

Wheeler's term as state treasurer carries through December. He's looking to launch a new retirement-savings program before he leaves. And he's got a second transition to manage: His own replacement won't be elected until November.

Asked if he'd split his time between his mayoral work and his duties as treasurer, Wheeler said "that's not unrealistic." He answered the same when asked if that means spending 25 hours a week on state business and 25 hours preparing to become mayor.

"I am mindful of my responsibilities as state treasurer, and I will not shirk those responsibilities," he said.

But Wheeler offered scant details about his transition process or the size of his eventual mayoral staff, saying he's not ready to make those announcements.

Wheeler said he met Wednesday with his campaign manager, Michael Cox, and his longtime chief of staff, Tom Rinehart, who started with Wheeler in Multnomah County and followed him to the Treasury. Wheeler said he'd like both to join him at City Hall, although the mayor-elect was non-committal on whether Rinehart would continue as his top aide.

Pressed to name people he'll consult with on hiring, Wheeler listed Rukaiyah Adams, chief investment officer for the Meyer Memorial Trust; Nichole Maher, chief executive of the Northwest Health Foundation; and Kayse Jama, executive director for the Center for Intercultural Organizing.

"We have seven months," he said. "I will engage broadly in the community."

Wheeler also wants an office in Portland's administrative headquarters next to City Hall -- and soon. The City Council approved $85,000 in its budget for transition costs. That'll cover the eventual cost of moving into City Hall and two transition staffers for Wheeler, but only in November and December.

He said he'll bring it up with Hales next month, after Hales returns from a previously planned trip to Washington, D.C.

"We want to reach a compromise that is not awkward for him," Wheeler said, "but also allows us to have access to key individuals."

"Conversations I'm already having"

Wheeler insists he's not out to undercut Hales. But he's been vocal nonetheless about several pressing issues -- and he's already working to flex some muscle.

Wheeler wants the city to reel back Hales' policy allowing tent camping, saying it's not compassionate and isn't necessarily helping people into shelter or housing.

"It's certainly a conversation I'm already having with city commissioners," said Wheeler, before quickly adding that "there's no presumption" he can get the City Council to do anything before taking office.

Wheeler also isn't keen on Hales' planned $195 million renovation of the Portland Building, which would include moving hundreds of city employees to rental space next year.

"The City Council has approved a strategy, and I'm not sold on it yet," he said. "There are questions I have about it, and there are alternatives that I would like to discuss with the commissioners."

Likewise, Wheeler long ago called on Hales to postpone hiring the next executive director of Portland's urban renewal agency. But Hales moved forward undeterred, and Wheeler now says he'd like to interview the finalists.

"That has not been offered to me yet, but that is absolutely what I will ask for," he said.

Hales has also been working quietly to finish a new labor contract with Portland's rank-and-file police union. Wheeler wouldn't say if he wants the City Council to hold off or, at a minimum, give him tacit veto power.

"I don't think it's appropriate for me to talk about, in public, what I will or will not accept today," he said.

But even if Wheeler won't say it, others know his opinion matters.

A few years back, Rob Wheaton negotiated a contract on behalf of about 1,500 unionized city employees. Negotiations for the District Council of Trade Unions could begin again this October, with the lame-duck mayor, and Portland's mayor-in-waiting, each with a vested interest.

"You kind of need to get the OK with them both," Wheaton said. "They're both equally important at this point."

-- Brad Schmidt

503-294-7628

@cityhallwatch