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Scott Walker: A Milwaukee County-to-Wisconsin Political Profile

Scott Walker’s political career included nearly a decade as Milwaukee County executive before he became Wisconsin’s 45th governor, a role he held from 2011 through 2019.

By KLGBT News Desk ·

Contextual Wikimedia Commons photograph: Scott Kevin Walker (born November 2, 1967) is an American Republican politician who is the 45th Governor of Wisconsin. He is a two-term Governor, elected in 2010 and 2014, who also defeated an effort to recall him in 2012. Walker began his political career in the state assembly, serving from 1993–2002. After the 2002 resignation of Tom Ament as Executive of Milwaukee County, Walker won the special
Contextual Wikimedia Commons photograph: Scott Kevin Walker (born November 2, 1967) is an American Republican politician who is the 45th Governor of Wisconsin. He is a two-term Governor, elected in 2010 and 2014, who also defeated an effort to recall him in 2012. Walker began his political career in the state assembly, serving from 1993–2002. After the 2002 resignation of Tom Ament as Executive of Milwaukee County, Walker won the special Michael Vadon — CC BY-SA 4.0

Scott Walker’s political career is closely tied to Milwaukee County, even though he was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and spent part of his childhood in Plainfield, Iowa, and Delavan, Wisconsin. His first elected office came in 1992, when he won a seat in the Wisconsin State Assembly representing a district in western Milwaukee County.

A decade later, Walker moved into county government. He won a 2002 special election for Milwaukee County executive after the resignation of Tom Ament. Voters awarded him a full term in 2004 and reelected him in 2008. That period established Walker as a Milwaukee County political figure before his eventual move into statewide office.

Walker first sought the governorship in 2006 but left the race before the primary. He returned to the contest in 2010 as the Republican nominee and defeated Democrat Tom Barrett. Walker took office in 2011 as Wisconsin’s 45th governor and served through 2019. He remains the most recent Republican to have held the governorship, according to the supplied source.

His early time as governor brought national attention to Wisconsin. Soon after taking office, Walker introduced the Wisconsin Budget Repair Bill, a proposal that substantially restricted collective bargaining rights for most public employees. The measure led to major demonstrations at the Wisconsin State Capitol. Democratic state senators also temporarily departed Wisconsin in an effort to prevent the legislation from advancing.

For Milwaukee readers, Walker’s profile connects municipal and statewide politics: his route to the governor’s office began with representation in western Milwaukee County and continued through two elected terms as county executive. His later prominence was shaped by a statewide policy fight that drew national focus to Wisconsin.

This background is limited to the supplied account. It identifies Walker’s offices, elections and the budget legislation that defined the opening period of his governorship, without extending into subjects not covered in the source material.

Source and reuse information This automatically generated backgrounder adapts text from “Scott Walker (politician)” on Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Walker_(politician) The adapted text is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license (CC BY-SA 4.0): https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/. The source article’s linked references are provided below where available. This story has not been independently reviewed or fact-checked.

Further links listed by the Wikipedia page (not independently checked): - https://www.bostonglobe.com/news/politics/2015/02/11/scott-walker-dropped-out-marquette-but-his-education-campus-politics-set-him-ambitious-path/m41BjqIY9xAltlCgR6z5CM/story.html - https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-02-23/leading-from-behind-how-years-of-denials-got-scott-walker-in-position-to-approve-right-to-work - https://web.archive.org/web/20090512184102/http://www.au.org/media/church-and-state/archives/2002/02/aub.html - https://web.archive.org/web/20110718071849/http://www.wisn.com/politics/2981352/detail.html - https://web.archive.org/web/20080905145503/http://blogs.wispolitics.com/GOPconvos/2008/05/ryan-walker-early-gop-favorites-for.html - https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-02-17/scott-walker-is-king-of-kochworld Image rights Photograph description: Scott Kevin Walker (born November 2, 1967) is an American Republican politician who is the 45th Governor of Wisconsin. He is a two-term Governor, elected in 2010 and 2014, who also defeated an effort to recall him in 2012. Walker began his political career in the state assembly, serving from 1993–2002. After the 2002 resignation of Tom Ament as Executive of Milwaukee County, Walker won the special Creator: Michael Vadon. License: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0). Original image page: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AGovernor_of_Wisconsin_Scott_Walker_at_Citizens_United_Freedom_Summit_in_Greenville_South_Carolina_May_2015_by_Michael_Vadon_02.jpg. The image was resized for display; no other changes were made.