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Tight Race for Wisconsin Governor

October 10, 2018 at 7:37 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new Marquette University Law School Poll in Wisconsin finds Gov. Scott Walker (R) barely ahead of challenger Tony Evers (D), 47% to 46% among likely voters.

Last month, Evers had a 5-point lead.

Filed Under: 2018 Campaign Tagged With: WI-Gov

‘Oh No Tony’

September 25, 2018 at 3:44 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) released one of the stranger political ads of the year.

Filed Under: 2018 Campaign, Political Advertising Tagged With: WI-Gov

Evers Opens Lead Over Walker In Wisconsin

September 18, 2018 at 2:07 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new Marquette University Law School Poll in Wisconsin finds Tony Evers (D) has opened a lead over Gov. Scott Walker (R) among likely voters in the race for governor, 49% to 44%, with Libertarian Phil Anderson at 6%.

Evers and Walker were tied at 46 percent each in the August poll.

In the race for U.S. Senate, Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) opened a huge lead over  challenger Leah Vukmir, 53% to 42%.

Filed Under: 2018 Campaign Tagged With: WI-Gov


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Democrats Have Walker Cornered

September 10, 2018 at 6:29 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Politico: “There’s every reason to believe this is the beginning of the end for Scott Walker. His presidential bid crashed and burned. He’s running for a third term as governor in what figures to be a hostile midterm for the Republican Party. Polling shows that the independent voters who were so critical to Walker’s wins in the 2012 recall and 2014 reelection are breaking away from him.”

“After years of futility, Democrats here are convinced they finally have him cornered.”

Filed Under: 2018 Campaign Tagged With: WI-Gov

Walker Trails In Wisconsin

August 28, 2018 at 1:25 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new Milwaukee Journal Sentinel/Suffolk University poll in Wisconsin finds Tony Evers (D) leading Gov. Scott Walker (R) in the race for governor, 46% to 44%.

In the U.S. Senate race, Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) leads challenger Leah Vukmir (R), 50% to 42%.

Filed Under: 2018 Campaign Tagged With: WI-Gov

Dead Heat for Wisconsin Governor

August 22, 2018 at 4:11 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new Marquette Law School Poll in Wisconsin finds Gov. Scott Walker (R) deadlocked with challenger Tony Evers (D), 46% to 46% among likely voters, with Libertarian Phil Anderson at 6%.

In the U.S. Senate race, Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) barely leads challenger Leah Vukmir (R), 49% to 47%.

Filed Under: 2018 Campaign Tagged With: WI-Gov

Walker Trails In Wisconsin

August 17, 2018 at 5:21 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new Public Policy Polling survey in Wisconsin shows shows Tony Evers (D) leading Gov. Scott Walker (R) in the governor’s race by five points, 49% to 44%.

Filed Under: 2018 Campaign Tagged With: WI-Gov

Walker Trails By Seven In Wisconsin

July 30, 2018 at 4:55 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

A new Emerson College poll in Wisconsin finds that Tony Evers (D) leads Gov. Scott Walker (R) in the race for governor, 48% to 41%, with 7% of voters still undecided.

Filed Under: 2018 Campaign Tagged With: WI-Gov

Democrats Lead for Governor In Three Midwestern States

July 26, 2018 at 5:44 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

NBC News/Marist polled possible match ups for governor in three key Midwestern states:

  • In Wisconsin, Tony Evers (D) leads Gov. Scott Walker (R), 54% to 41%.
  • In Michigan, Gretchen Whitmer (D) leads Bill Schuette (R), 47% to 38%.
  • In Minnesota, Lori Swanson (D) leads Tim Pawlenty (R) 51% to 40%, while Tim Walz (D) leads Pawlenty (R) 51% to 40%.

Filed Under: 2018 Campaign Tagged With: MI-Gov, MN-Gov, WI-Gov

Walker Is Quietly Keeping His National Profile Alive

April 2, 2018 at 5:46 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

“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.”

Filed Under: 2018 Campaign Tagged With: Scott Walker, WI-Gov

Inside Scott Walker’s Comeback Strategy

November 15, 2017 at 8:06 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

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.'”

Filed Under: State House Tagged With: Scott Walker, WI-Gov

Walker Confirms He’ll Run for Third Term

October 18, 2017 at 10:56 am EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

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?”

Filed Under: 2018 Campaign Tagged With: Scott Walker, WI-Gov

Will Rural Voters Swing Back?

January 23, 2017 at 9:47 am EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

This piece is only available to Political Wire members.

An excellent analysis by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel finds that Donald Trump’s winning coalition in the 2016 presidential race included some of the “swingiest” voters in the United States: those in rural Wisconsin.

Join now to continue reading.

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Filed Under: 2016 Campaign, 2018 Campaign, Members Tagged With: WI-Gov, WI-Sen, Wisconsin

Walker Likely to Run Again

November 16, 2016 at 1:34 pm EST By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

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.”

Filed Under: 2018 Campaign Tagged With: Scott Walker, WI-Gov

Walker Rejects Idea of Displacing Trump

June 28, 2016 at 1:33 pm EDT By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

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.”

Filed Under: 2016 Campaign Tagged With: Scott Walker, WI-Gov

Quote of the Day

February 2, 2016 at 12:37 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 25 Comments

“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.

Filed Under: 2018 Campaign Tagged With: Scott Walker, WI-Gov

Is Feingold Preparing for a Senate Run?

February 20, 2015 at 6:30 am EST By Taegan Goddard 4 Comments

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.”

Filed Under: 2016 Campaign Tagged With: Russ Feingold, WI-Gov

Bonus Quote of the Day

November 10, 2014 at 5:09 pm EST By Taegan Goddard 7 Comments

“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.

Filed Under: 2014 Campaign Tagged With: Mary Burke, WI-Gov

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About Political Wire

goddard-bw-snapshotTaegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

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