Scott Walker (politician)
Scott Kevin Walker 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. He is the most recent Republican to have served as governor of Wisconsin.
Born in Colorado Springs, Colorado, Walker was raised in Plainfield, Iowa, and 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 Tom Ament. He was elected to a full term in 2004 and reelected in 2008. Walker ran for governor in 2006 but withdrew before the primary election. He ran again in 2010 and won, defeating Democrat Tom Barrett.
Shortly after taking office in 2011, Walker gained national attention by introducing the Wisconsin Budget Repair Bill, which significantly limited collective bargaining rights for most Wisconsin public employees. The proposal prompted large protests at the Wisconsin State Capitol, and Democratic state senators temporarily left the state to prevent the bill from being passed. The bill was enacted in March 2011. Opposition to the law led to a recall election in 2012, which Walker won, making him the first incumbent U.S. governor to defeat a recall election; California governor Gavin Newsom later did so in 2021.
Walker was reelected in 2014, defeating Democratic challenger Mary Burke. In 2015, he launched a campaign for the Republican nomination for president but withdrew after two months amid declining poll support. Walker sought a third term as governor in 2018 but was narrowly defeated by Democrat Tony Evers. Since 2021, he has served as president of Young America's Foundation.
Early life and education
Walker was born on November 2, 1967, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the elder of two sons of Patricia Ann "Pat", a bookkeeper, and Llewellyn Scott "Llew" Walker, a Baptist minister.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. 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. 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. While at the event, he met President Ronald Reagan and had a photo taken with him. Walker has credited the experience with solidifying his interest in public service and giving him the "political bug". He attained the highest rank, Eagle Scout, in the Boy Scouts of America, and graduated from Delavan-Darien High School in 1986.
In the fall of 1986, Walker enrolled at Marquette University. 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.
During the same year, he volunteered for Tommy Thompson's gubernatorial campaign. In 1988, Walker lost a "fiercely-fought" campaign for student government president. Walker led the anti-abortion Students for Life group at Marquette.
Walker discontinued his studies at Marquette in the spring of 1990, having earned 94 of the 128 minimum credits needed to graduate. He left in good standing with a 2.59/4.0 grade point average, but without having obtained a degree. Walker has said that he dropped out of college when he received a full-time job offer from the American Red Cross.
Early political career
Wisconsin State Assembly
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. 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.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. 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. He was re-elected four times, serving until 2002 when he became a county executive.
While in the Assembly, Walker was interested in criminal justice matters 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. As a freshman legislator in 1993, he co-sponsored right-to-work legislation. In 1999 he advocated for a truth-in-sentencing bill that increased prison time for some crimes and eliminated parole for others. Walker was a member of the American Legislative Exchange Council at the time, and credited the organization for much of the success of the legislation.
In 2001, he sponsored a bill to prevent pharmacists from being disciplined for refusing to fill prescriptions for emergency contraception and was a supporter of a bill to require voters to show photo ID at the polls. 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.
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.
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. 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.
Milwaukee County Executive
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. Walker was elected to a four-year term in 2004, winning 57% of the vote to defeat former state budget director, David Riemer. Although in a liberal county and running for a nonpartisan position, Walker ran openly as a conservative Republican. He won another four-year term in 2008, defeating State Senator Lena Taylor with 59% of the vote. Upon first being elected, Walker became the youngest person and the first Republican ever elected to the position and remains the only Republican to hold this office to date.Walker won the office on a platform of fiscal conservatism, 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 during his first term, and reduced his give-back to $10,000 per year during his second term.
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. 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. 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. 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.
Operation Freedom investigation
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. 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. Kavanaugh and four others were arrested for theft of funds. Kavanaugh was convicted and sentenced to 21 months in prison.
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. Walker was not charged with any wrongdoing.