“Scott Walker’s political rebound is supposed to be grounded in Wisconsin, where he’s expected to run a robust gubernatorial campaign in a state where he has done nothing but win,” BuzzFeed News reports.
“But Walker, whose surprisingly quick rise and fall as a Republican presidential contender hurt his standing at home, also is carefully and somewhat quietly maintaining his national brand.”
After two years of mending fences after a failed presidential bid, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) “has clawed his way back. His numbers have inched up each of the past four quarters, and his approval rating is now back in the mid-to-high 40s,” according to James Hohmann.
“As the GOP primaries continued without him from New Hampshire to South Carolina and beyond, Walker convened the first of more than 100 ‘listening sessions’ in all 72 of Wisconsin’s counties. His advance team would set up two whiteboards in the front of every room. The governor would spend the first 20 minutes asking attendees to say something positive about the state, which he’d write down. Then he’d spend the next hour asking how Wisconsin could be better, filling up the second whiteboard. He tried to talk as little as possible.”
“The governor offered several concrete proposals in his budget around the themes that came up again and again, such as opioid abuse and broadband access, but he said the most important result of the sessions was conveying to Wisconsinites that he had not ‘moved on.'”
In a new campaign video, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) “touts his record and makes clear he wants to run for a third term in 2018,” the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel reports.
Said Walker: “At the end of each day, after all of the miles and conversations, I can’t wait for the alarm to ring to see what opportunities tomorrow will bring. Are you with me?”
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Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) ruled out a 2018 Senate bid but indicated to the Washington Examiner that he is leaning toward seeking a third term as governor.
“The governor said he would sit down with his family in the next couple of weeks to discuss a 2018 re-election bid and make a final decision next year after passage of the state budget.”
Gov. Scott Walker (R) “says he has no interest in participating in the ‘Draft Walker’ movement seeking to displace Donald Trump as the Republican presidential nominee,” the Kenosha News reports.
Said Walker: “If I run for anything — and I haven’t made a decision yet — it’s going to be for re-election in two years.”
“My wife says if I thought about a fourth term, she’d slit my throat.”
— Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R), USA Today, while hinting he may run for a third term.
Russ Feingold (D) “will soon deliver his final speech as United States Special Envoy for the Great Lakes Region of Africa, closing one chapter of his career and inevitably sparking speculation about the next,” the Huffington Post reports.
“Many have speculated the former Democratic senator will run for his old seat in 2016, taking on the man who beat him: Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI). Leaving the State Department would be the first logical step in exploring a campaign, as Feingold is heavily restricted from preparing to run for elected office while serving in his current post.”
“I think I just don’t really fit the mold.”
— Failed Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Mary Burke (D), quoted by the Wisconsin State Journal, saying she won’t run for statewide office again.