Scott Walker
Walker in 2017
45th Governor of Wisconsin
In office January 3, 2011 – January 7, 2019
Lieutenant	Rebecca Kleefisch
Preceded by	Jim Doyle
Succeeded by	Tony Evers
Chair of the Republican Governors Association
In office November 16, 2016 – November 17, 2017
Preceded by	Susana Martinez
Succeeded by	Bill Haslam
5th Executive of Milwaukee County
In office April 30, 2002 – December 27, 2010
Preceded by	Tom Ament
Succeeded by	Lee Holloway (acting)
Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the 14th district
In office June 30, 1993 – April 30, 2002
Preceded by	Peggy Rosenzweig
Succeeded by	Leah Vukmir
Personal details
Born	Scott Kevin Walker (1967-11-02) November 2, 1967 (age 56) Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Tonette Tarantino ​ (m. 1993)​
Children	2
Education	Marquette University (no degree)
Signature
Website	Official website

Scott Kevin Walker (born November 2, 1967) is an American politician who served as the 45th governor of Wisconsin from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served as Milwaukee County executive from 2002 to 2010.

Born in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Walker was raised in Plainfield, Iowa and in Delavan, Wisconsin. He was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly in 1992, representing a district in western Milwaukee County. In 2002, Walker was elected Milwaukee County Executive in a special election following the resignation of F. Thomas Ament; he was elected to a full term in 2004 and was re-elected in 2008.

Walker ran for Governor of Wisconsin in 2006, but dropped out of the race before the primary election. He ran again in 2010 and won. Shortly after his inauguration in 2011, Walker gained national attention by introducing the Wisconsin Budget Repair Bill; the legislation proposed to effectively eliminate collective bargaining for most Wisconsin public employees. In response, opponents of the bill protested at the Wisconsin State Capitol and Senate Democrats left the state in an effort to prevent the bill from being passed. Nevertheless, the Wisconsin Budget Repair Bill became law in March 2011. Opposition to the law led to an attempt to recall Walker from office in 2012. Walker prevailed in the recall election, becoming the first of two incumbent governors in the history of the United States to win a recall election, the other being California governor Gavin Newsom in 2021.

Walker was re-elected in 2014, defeating Democratic Madison School Board member Mary Burke. Following heavy speculation about his presidential ambitions, Walker launched a campaign for the Republican nomination in the 2016 presidential election; however, he withdrew from the race after only two months as a result of declining support in polls. Walker sought a third term as governor in 2018, but was narrowly defeated by Democrat Tony Evers.

Walker was born on November 2, 1967, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the elder of two sons of Patricia Ann "Pat" (née Fitch; born December 30, 1938), a bookkeeper, and Llewellyn Scott "Llew" Walker (May 19, 1939 – October 7, 2018), a Baptist minister.^[1]

The family moved to Plainfield, Iowa, in 1970, where Llew worked as pastor in the local Baptist Church, TBC, and served on the municipal council.^[2] When Walker was ten years old, the family moved to Delavan, Wisconsin, where his father continued to work as a minister, at the First Baptist Church of Delavan.^[3] In 1985, when Walker was in high school, he attended and represented Wisconsin at two weeks of American Legion-sponsored training in leadership and government at Badger Boys State in Wisconsin and Boys Nation in Washington, D.C.^[4][5] While at the event, he met President Ronald Reagan^[6][7] and had a photo taken with him.^[8] Walker has credited the experience with solidifying his interest in public service and giving him the "political bug".^[9] He attained the highest rank, Eagle Scout, in the Boy Scouts of America,^[6][10] and graduated from Delavan-Darien High School in 1986.^[11]

In the fall of 1986, Walker enrolled at Marquette University.^[12] Within a few weeks of beginning his collegiate studies, Walker became a student senator and led a committee investigating alleged misuse of funds by student leaders.^[13] During the same year, he volunteered for Tommy Thompson's gubernatorial campaign.^[14] In 1988, Walker lost a "fiercely-fought" campaign for student government president.^[13] Walker led the anti-abortion Students for Life group at Marquette.^[15]

Walker discontinued his studies at Marquette in the spring of 1990, having earned 94 of the 128 minimum credits needed to graduate.^[16] He left in good standing with a 2.59/4.0 grade point average, but without having obtained a degree.^[16][17] Walker has said that he dropped out of college when he received a full-time job offer from the American Red Cross.^[13][18][19]

In 1990, at age 22, Walker ran for Milwaukee's 7th District seat in the Wisconsin State Assembly. He won the Republican nomination, but lost in the general election to incumbent Democrat Gwen Moore, receiving less than one-third of the vote.^[20][21] In 1993, Walker moved to Wauwatosa, a suburb of Milwaukee, and ran in a special election in the more conservative 14th legislative district, based around Wauwatosa. He defeated Democrat Chris Ament, son of then-Milwaukee County Executive Tom Ament.^[22][23]

During the campaign, Walker backed welfare reform and opposed the expansion of mass transit. He supported a cap on state spending and said that the law on resolving labor disputes with local government employees needed to be reformed.^[24] Walker received the endorsements of Wisconsin Right to Life and The Milwaukee Sentinel, which called him a fiscal conservative and noted his anti-abortion, tough-on-crime, and pro-welfare reform positions.^[25] He was re-elected four times, serving until 2002 when he became a county executive.^[22]

While in the Assembly, Walker was interested in criminal justice matters^[22] and chaired the Committees on Correctional Facilities, and Corrections and the Courts. Over the years, he served on a number of other committees, including Health, Census and Redistricting, Financial Institutions, and Housing.^[26] As a freshman legislator in 1993, he co-sponsored right-to-work legislation.^{[27][28][29][30]} In 1999 he advocated for a truth-in-sentencing bill that increased prison time for some crimes and eliminated parole for others.^[31] Walker was a member of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) at the time, and credited the organization for much of the success of the legislation.^[31]

In 2001, he sponsored a bill to prevent pharmacists from being disciplined for refusing to fill prescriptions for emergency contraception^[32] and was a supporter of a bill to require voters to show photo ID at the polls.^[22] According to research by two political analysts, Walker was more conservative than about 90% of his peers in the assembly and about 80% of the Republicans in the assembly.^[33]

Walker had a pro-life record in the Assembly. With the exception of some bills while Walker was running for Milwaukee County Executive, Walker either sponsored or cosponsored all but three bills that would have restricted abortions.^[15]

In 2001–02, Walker and fellow Assemblymember Michael Huebsch objected to the hiring of a state employee, Rev. Jamyi Witch, on the basis of her religious beliefs as a Wiccan.^[34][35] Walker claimed that Witch's hiring as a prison chaplain raised "both personal and political concerns" because she "practice a religion that actually offends people of many other faiths". Walker and Huebsch were ultimately unsuccessful in terminating Witch's chaplaincy or employment.^[34]

Walker became Milwaukee County Executive in a special election run in April 2002, after the former County Executive, Tom Ament, resigned in the wake of a county pension-fund scandal.^[22][36] Walker was elected to a four-year term in 2004, winning 57% of the vote to defeat former state budget director, David Riemer.^[37][38] Although in a liberal county and running for a nonpartisan position, Walker ran openly as a conservative Republican.^[6] He won another four-year term in 2008, defeating State Senator Lena Taylor with 59% of the vote.^[39] Upon first being elected, Walker became the youngest person and the first Republican ever elected to the position^[40] and remains the only Republican to hold this office to date.^[41]

Walker won the office on a platform of fiscal conservatism,^[7] promising to give back part of his own salary. He said that his voluntary give-back gave him moral authority to make cuts in the budget. He returned $60,000 per year (slightly less than half of his salary) during his first term, and reduced his give-back to $10,000 per year during his second term.^[42]

During his eight years in office, there were disputes with the county board "over taxes, privatization of public services, quality of parks and public buildings, and delivery of social services", according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.^[21] The County Board approved several budgets over Walker's veto and he never submitted a budget with a higher property tax than the board had approved the prior year.^[22] During Walker's tenure the number of county employees was reduced by over 20% and the $3.5 million county deficit was turned into a surplus.^[6][43] In addition, he cut over $44 million in proposed spending through his veto powers and helped eliminate the waiting list for long-term care for senior citizens.^[6]

Walker appointed Kevin Kavanaugh, treasurer of the local chapter of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, as a member of the County Veterans Service Commission.^[44] Walker raised funds annually for veterans at the Operation Freedom Benefit, with proceeds to the Military Order of the Purple Heart.

Walker's Chief of Staff, Thomas Nardelli, indicated that he went to Walker with concerns about missing money in 2009, and Walker directed him to report it to the district attorney's office. The district attorney did not immediately act but later launched a "John Doe" investigation.^[44] Kavanaugh and four others were arrested for theft of funds. Kavanaugh was convicted and sentenced to 21 months in prison.^[45][46]

Tim Russell, employed by Walker in a number of posts, was implicated in the same investigation; he was charged in January 2012 and pleaded guilty in November 2012 to diverting more than $21,000 to his personal bank account. In 2010, Walker's last year as Milwaukee County executive, Russell was his deputy chief of staff and Milwaukee Housing Director.^[47] Walker was not charged with any wrongdoing.^[48]

While county executive, Walker became a candidate, in February 2005, in the 2006 race for Wisconsin governor.^[49] He dropped out on March 24, 2006, after about 14 months of campaigning, citing fundraising difficulties.^[50][49] Walker threw his support to fellow Republican Mark Andrew Green, who won the Republican primary unopposed, and Walker actively campaigned for him during the general election.^[49] Green lost the general election, in November 2006, to the incumbent Democrat, Jim Doyle.^[36] Despite Green's loss, Walker's strong support for him helped increase Walker's favorability with the state GOP and positioned him as the frontrunner for the 2010 election.^[49]

Walker was an early favorite for the 2010 Republican Party endorsement for Wisconsin governor, winning straw polls of Wisconsin GOP convention attendees in 2007 and 2008.^[51][52] He announced his candidacy in late April 2009 after several months of previewing his campaign themes of reduced taxes and reduced spending to Republican audiences around the state. He criticized the 2009–2011 Wisconsin state budget as too big given the slow economy.^[36] In 2009 and 2010, Americans for Prosperity helped raise Walker's statewide profile, inviting him to address its events and rallies throughout the state.^[53] Walker won the Wisconsin GOP convention endorsement on May 22, 2010, receiving 91% of the votes cast by delegates. He won the Republican nomination in the primary election of September 14, 2010, receiving 59% of the popular vote, while former U.S. Representative Mark Neumann garnered 39%.^[54]

As part of his campaign platform, Walker said he would create 250,000 jobs in his first term through a program that would include tax cuts for small businesses, capital gains tax cuts, and income tax cuts.^[22] He proposed cutting state employee wages and benefits to help pay for these tax cuts. Critics argued that his proposals would help only the wealthy and that cutting the salaries of public employees would adversely affect state services,^[55][56] while supporters argued that tax cuts for businesses would spur the economy and create jobs.^[57]

Walker indicated he would refuse an $810 million award from the federal Department of Transportation to build a high speed railroad line from Madison to Milwaukee as he believed it would cost the state $7.5 million per year to operate and would not prove profitable.^[58] This was in spite of offers by the mayor of Madison and the Dane County executive to help absorb costs the state might have incurred.^[59] The award was later rescinded and split among other states.^[60] This cost the state at least $60 million for rail repairs federal funds would have covered.^[61]

Social issues played a part in the campaign. Walker has stated that he is "100% pro-life" and that he believes life should be protected from conception to natural death.^[62] He opposes abortion, including in cases of rape and incest.^[32][63] He supports abstinence-only sex education in the public schools and opposes state supported clinical services that provide birth control and testing and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases to teens under age 18 without parental consent.^[32] He supports the right of pharmacists to refuse to fill prescriptions for contraceptives on religious or moral grounds.^[32][64] He supports adult stem cell research but opposes human embryonic stem cell research.^{[22][63][65][66]}

As an opponent of same-sex marriage, he opposed a law that allowed gay couples to register with counties to get certain benefits, such as hospital visitation rights. He later stated that his position on same-sex marriage was no longer relevant because Wisconsin's ban on same-sex marriage had been overturned by a federal court.^[67] Walker said he would sign an Arizona-style immigration bill, which would allow local police to stop suspected illegal immigrants, if he were elected.^[68]

On November 2, 2010, his 43rd birthday, Walker won the general election with 52% of total votes cast, while Democrat Tom Barrett received 46%.^[69] His running mate was Rebecca Kleefisch, a former Milwaukee television news reporter.^[69] Walker's victory came amid a series of Wisconsin GOP victories, with conservative Republican Ron Johnson winning the contested U.S. Senate seat, and with the GOP gaining majorities in the state's U.S. House delegation, State Assembly, and State Senate.^[70][71]

After the contentious collective bargaining dispute, Walker's disapproval ratings varied between 50% and 51% while his approval ratings varied between 47% and 49% in 2011.^[73][74] The effort to recall Walker officially began on November 15, 2011.^[75]

Walker reportedly raised more than $30 million during the recall effort,^[76] with a significant portion from out of state.^[77] Commentators claimed the amount of money raised was "illustrating the national significance both political parties saw in the recall fight".^[78] In March 2012, the Wisconsin Government Accountability Board announced there were more than 900,000 valid signatures to force a recall vote, well above the required minimum of 540,208.^[79]

In February 2012, Walker's campaign requested additional time for the petition signatures to be verified, claiming about 20% of the signatures were not valid. Democrats argued that even if 20% of the signatures were disregarded they still had obtained 180,000 more signatures than required to initiate the recall. Wisconsin Democratic Party Communications Director Graeme Zielinski claimed Walker was "delaying the inevitable".^[80] On February 17, 2012, Dane County Judge Richard Niess, who had signed the recall petition, denied Walker's request for additional time.^[81] On March 30, 2012, the Government Accountability Board unanimously ruled in favor of the recall election. The recall elections for both Walker and Kleefisch took place on June 5, 2012.^[82]

During the Republican primary election for the recall, Walker received 626,538 votes. In the Democratic primary, all of the Democratic candidates combined received 670,288, with the winner, Tom Barrett, receiving 390,109, a majority. On June 5, 2012, Walker won the recall election.^[83] This was only the third gubernatorial recall election in U.S. history.^[84] Walker won the recall, his second face-off with Barrett, by a slightly larger margin (53% to 46%) than in the 2010 election (52% to 46%) and became the first U.S. governor to win a recall election.^[85][86]

By the end of the recall election, Walker had a national network of conservative donors and groups supporting him. Nearly 300,000 people donated to his recall campaign, which garnered roughly $37 million. Two-thirds of the contributions came from outside Wisconsin. Walker, or the conservative causes he supports, are also supported by conservative donors and groups including Michael W. Grebe, Diane Hendricks, and the Bradley Foundation, founder of the Wisconsin Policy Research Institute and the MacIver Institute; and David H. Koch and Charles Koch, initial funders of Americans for Prosperity.^[87]

In his third election in four years, Walker faced Democrat Mary Burke to determine the governor of Wisconsin.^[88] Wisconsin labor unions, who helped organize the 2012 Wisconsin recall election, donated funds to boost Burke's campaign. Walker received help from a number of conservative donors. The polling through most of the race was close and no candidate was a definitive favorite.^[89] The gubernatorial election took place on November 4, 2014, and Walker won re-election by 6 percent of the vote.^[90]

Walker sought a third term in the 2018 elections. His opponent, Democratic Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers, defeated him in the election.^[91]

Walker took the oath of office to become the 45th Governor of Wisconsin on January 3, 2011.^[92][93] By January 25, 2011, the state legislature passed a series of Walker-backed bills, the largest of which would cut taxes for businesses at "a two-year cost of $67 million", according to the Associated Press.^[94]

Walker became a figure of national recognition and controversy after he proposed the "Wisconsin budget repair bill" in 2011. The bill, which would eventually be passed by the Wisconsin Legislature, significantly changed the collective bargaining process for most public employees in Wisconsin. Opponents of Walker's actions launched a push for a recall election and received enough support to force an election on June 5, 2012, the first time a Governor of Wisconsin had ever faced recall.^[95]

During Walker's first term as governor, the state's $3.6 billion budget deficit was turned into a surplus^[96] and taxes were cut by $2 billion.^[97] More than 100,000 jobs were created in the state of Wisconsin.^[98]

Walker proposed the Wisconsin Budget Repair Bill on February 11, 2011, estimated to save Wisconsin $30 million in the current fiscal year and $300 million over the next two years.^[99] The bill requires additional contributions by state and local government workers to their health care plans and pensions, amounting to roughly an 8% decrease in the average government worker's take home pay.^[100] The bill eliminated, for most state workers, other than certain public safety workers, many collective bargaining rights aside from seeking pay increases, and then not above the rate of inflation, unless approved by a voter referendum.^[101] Under the bill, unions have to win yearly votes to continue representing government workers and could no longer have dues automatically deducted from government workers' paychecks.^[99][102] Certain law enforcement personnel and firefighters are exempt from the bargaining changes.^[103][104]

On January 18, 2011, days after Walker's inauguration, Beloit businesswoman and Walker supporter Diane Hendricks asked him, "Any chance we'll ever get to be a completely red state and work on these unions and become a right-to-work (state)?", and he replied:

Well, we're going to start in a couple weeks with our budget adjustment bill. The first step is, we're going to deal with collective bargaining for all public employee unions, because you use divide and conquer. So for us the base we've got for that is the fact that we've got – budgetarily we can't afford not to. If we have collective bargaining agreements in place, there's no way not only the state but local governments can balance things out. So you think city of Beloit, city of Janesville, any of the school districts, that opens the door once we do that. That's your bigger problem right there.^[105][106]

After videotape of the interaction was released in May 2012, Walker's opponents said Walker had revealed his intention to target private sector unions and pursue right-to-work legislation. Walker said he was not pursuing right-to-work legislation and that in his 2011 comment to Hendricks he was referring to his responsibility as governor to defend taxpayers from unions that he believed were frustrating resolution of the state's budget deficit.^{[107][108][109]}

In announcing the proposed legislation, Walker said the Wisconsin National Guard and other state agencies were prepared to prevent disruptions in state services.^[110][111] He later explained that police and firefighters were excluded from the changes because he would not jeopardize public safety. Walker stated that the bill was necessary to avoid laying off thousands of state employees and that no one should be surprised by its provisions. Union leaders and Democratic legislators immediately criticized the bill, claiming Walker had never campaigned on doing away with collective bargaining rights.^[111] In a media interview a week later, Walker said he was not trying to break the public sector unions, noting that Wisconsin government employees would retain the protections of civil service laws. He said that asking employees to pay half the national average for health care benefits was a modest request.^[112] Demonstrators began protesting the proposed bill on February 14, 2011.^[113] During the sixth day of the protests, leaders of the two largest unions said publicly they were prepared to accept the financial concessions in the bill, but would not agree to the limitations of collective bargaining rights.

On February 17, 2011, all 14 Democratic state senators traveled to Illinois to prevent the passage of the bill by depriving the Senate of the quorum necessary for a vote.^[114] The missing legislators said they would not return to Madison unless Walker agreed to remove the limitations on collective bargaining from the bill.^[100][115] Walker warned that if the budget repair bill was not passed by March 1, refinancing of a $165 million state debt would fail, and more cuts would be needed to balance the budget.^[100]

By February 20, protestors had undertaken a physical occupation of the Capitol building.^[116] Protestors also covered the walls of the Capitol with thousands of homemade signs.^[117] On February 20, a union organizer participating in the protests said that the protests would continue "as long as it takes." Other union leaders called for teachers to return to work.^[117] On February 26, between 70,000 and 100,000 protested the bill in Madison. They were joined by thousands at state capitals around the nation.^[118] Zdroj:https://en.wikipedia.org?pojem=Scott_Walker_2016_presidential_campaign
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