Scott Walker (politician) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Scott Walker
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Walker in 2017
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| 45th Governor of Wisconsin | |
| In office January 3, 2011 – January 7, 2019 |
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| 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 |
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| Preceded by | Susana Martinez |
| Succeeded by | Bill Haslam |
| 5th Executive of Milwaukee County | |
| In office April 30, 2002 – December 27, 2010 |
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| Preceded by | Tom Ament |
| Succeeded by | Lee Holloway (acting) |
| Member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from the 14th district |
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| In office June 30, 1993 – April 30, 2002 |
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| Preceded by | Peggy Rosenzweig |
| Succeeded by | Leah Vukmir |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Scott Kevin Walker
November 2, 1967 Colorado Springs, Colorado, U.S. |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse |
Tonette Tarantino
(m. 1993) |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | Marquette University (no degree) |
| Signature |  |
Scott Kevin Walker (born November 2, 1967) is an American politician. He was the 45th governor of Wisconsin from 2011 to 2019. He is a member of the Republican Party. Before becoming governor, he was the Milwaukee County executive from 2002 to 2010.
Walker was born in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He grew up in Plainfield, Iowa and Delavan, Wisconsin. In 1992, he was elected to the Wisconsin State Assembly. In 2002, he became Milwaukee County Executive in a special election. He was re-elected to this role in 2004 and 2008.
Walker ran for Governor of Wisconsin in 2006 but left the race early. He ran again in 2010 and won. Soon after becoming governor in 2011, he gained national attention. He introduced a bill that changed how most public employees could bargain for their rights. This led to large protests and an attempt to remove him from office in 2012. However, Walker won the recall election. He was the first governor in U.S. history to win a recall election.
He was re-elected governor in 2014. In 2016, he ran for president but stopped his campaign after two months. In 2018, he ran for a third term as governor but lost to Tony Evers.
Contents
Early Life and School
Scott Walker was born on November 2, 1967, in Colorado Springs, Colorado. His father was a Baptist minister. His family moved to Plainfield, Iowa, in 1970. When he was ten, they moved to Delavan, Wisconsin.
In high school, Walker attended leadership training programs. He met President Ronald Reagan and took a photo with him. This experience made him very interested in public service. He became an Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America. He graduated from Delavan-Darien High School in 1986.
In 1986, Walker started at Marquette University. He became a student senator. He volunteered for Tommy Thompson's campaign for governor. Walker left Marquette in 1990 without a degree. He said he left for a full-time job offer from the American Red Cross.
Starting in Politics
Wisconsin State Assembly
In 1990, at age 22, Walker ran for a seat in the Wisconsin State Assembly. He lost that election. In 1993, he ran again in a different district and won.
During his campaign, Walker supported changes to welfare programs. He also wanted to limit state spending. He was re-elected four times and served until 2002.
While in the Assembly, Walker focused on criminal justice. He supported a "truth-in-sentencing" bill. This bill increased prison time for some crimes.
Milwaukee County Executive
In April 2002, Walker became Milwaukee County Executive. This happened after the previous executive resigned. Walker won a full four-year term in 2004 and again in 2008. He was the youngest person and the first Republican to hold this job.
He promised to be careful with money. He returned part of his salary to the county. During his time, the number of county employees went down. A $3.5 million county debt was turned into a surplus. He also cut over $44 million in planned spending.
Governor of Wisconsin
Elections
2010 Governor Election
Walker was a top choice for the Republican Party in the 2010 Wisconsin governor's race. He announced his campaign in April 2009. He promised to cut taxes and spending. He won the Republican nomination in September 2010.
He said he would create 250,000 jobs by cutting taxes for businesses. He also proposed cutting state employee wages. Walker said he would refuse federal money for a high-speed rail line. He believed it would cost the state too much.
Walker opposed same-sex marriage. He also said he would sign a bill like Arizona's immigration law. This law would allow police to stop suspected illegal immigrants.
On November 2, 2010, his 43rd birthday, Walker won the election. He received 52% of the votes. His running mate was Rebecca Kleefisch.
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
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| Republican | Scott Walker | 1,128,941 | 52.3 | |
| Democratic | Tom Barrett | 1,004,303 | 46.5 | |
2012 Recall Election
After a big dispute over workers' rights, people tried to recall Walker from office. This means they tried to remove him before his term ended. The effort officially began in November 2011.
Walker raised over $30 million for his campaign during the recall effort. Most of this money came from outside Wisconsin. In March 2012, it was confirmed that enough signatures were collected to force a recall vote.
The recall election happened on June 5, 2012. Walker won the election. He became the first U.S. governor to win a recall election. He won with 53% of the votes, a slightly larger margin than in 2010.
2014 Governor Election
In 2014, Walker ran for re-election against Democrat Mary Burke. Labor unions supported Burke's campaign. Walker received help from many conservative donors. The election was very close. Walker won re-election by 6 percent of the vote.
2018 Governor Election
Walker ran for a third term in 2018. His opponent was Democrat Tony Evers. Tony Evers defeated Walker in this election.
What He Did as Governor
Scott Walker became the 45th Governor of Wisconsin on January 3, 2011. Early on, the state legislature passed bills he supported. These bills cut taxes for businesses.
Walker became well-known across the country after proposing the "Wisconsin budget repair bill" in 2011. This bill greatly changed how most public employees could bargain for their rights. People who disagreed with Walker tried to recall him from office.
During his first term, Wisconsin's $3.6 billion budget debt was turned into a surplus. Taxes were cut by $2 billion. More than 100,000 jobs were created in Wisconsin.
2011 Budget Repair Bill
In February 2011, Walker proposed the Wisconsin Budget Repair Bill. This bill aimed to save the state a lot of money. It asked state and local government workers to pay more for their health care and pensions. This meant their take-home pay would be less.
The bill also limited the collective bargaining rights for most state workers. Collective bargaining is when workers, through their union, negotiate with their employer about wages, hours, and other working conditions. Under the bill, unions had to win yearly votes to keep representing workers.
Walker said the bill was needed to avoid laying off thousands of state employees. Union leaders and Democratic lawmakers criticized the bill. They said Walker had not talked about these changes during his campaign.
On February 17, 2011, all 14 Democratic state senators left Wisconsin. They went to Illinois to stop the bill from being passed. They said they would not return until the collective bargaining limits were removed. Protests began at the Capitol building. Thousands of people protested the bill in Madison.
After failing to reach an agreement, the Republican-led Senate passed the bill on March 9, 2011. The Wisconsin Assembly passed it the next day. Walker signed the bill into law on March 11, 2011.
The law was challenged in court. The Wisconsin Supreme Court eventually upheld the law in June 2011. Walker said the law would "save jobs, protect taxpayers, reform government and help balance the budget."
Voter ID Law
On May 25, 2011, Walker signed a voter ID law. This law required voters to show a government-issued ID to vote.
The ACLU sued to stop the law. In April 2014, a federal judge struck down the law. However, the Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld the law in July 2014. After more legal challenges, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed the law to be put into effect in March 2015.
Education
In 2012, Walker signed a law to fund reading evaluations for kindergartners. This was to help students read well by 3rd grade. The law also created a system to evaluate teachers and principals. Their evaluations would be based partly on student performance.
Walker approved a two-year freeze on tuition at the University of Wisconsin System. He later proposed extending this freeze. In 2015, he suggested cutting funding for the University of Wisconsin System. He also proposed changing the university's main goal to focus more on preparing students for jobs.
Mental Health
Walker signed laws to improve mental health care. In 2013, he helped create the Wisconsin Office of Children's Mental Health. In 2016, he signed laws for new programs to help people with mental illness. In 2017, he increased funding for mental health providers.
Right to Work Law
A "right-to-work" law means that workers cannot be forced to join a union or pay union fees as a condition of employment. In 2012 and 2014, Walker said he did not plan to pursue such a law for private unions.
However, when the state legislature proposed the law, Walker said he would sign it. On March 9, 2015, Walker signed legislation making Wisconsin a right-to-work state. This law applied to both private and public employee unions.
Unions sued to overturn the law. But in 2017, a U.S. appeals court upheld Wisconsin's right-to-work law.
Foxconn Agreement
Walker approved a deal with the company Foxconn. Foxconn planned to build a factory in Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin. As part of the deal, Foxconn would receive billions of dollars in government help. This was one of the largest subsidies ever given to a foreign company in U.S. history.
Foxconn said it would build a $10 billion factory and create up to 13,000 jobs. However, some experts doubted if the benefits would be worth the cost. The factory was expected to contribute to air pollution. Environmentalists were also concerned about the factory using a lot of water from Lake Michigan.
Running for President
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In early 2015, Walker started an organization to help spread his message. Many people thought he would run for president. In February 2015, he was seen as a top candidate for the Republican presidential race.
In July 2015, Walker officially announced he was running for president. He started as a front-runner in the race. However, his support in polls began to drop.
On September 21, 2015, Walker stopped his campaign. He asked other candidates to do the same. He wanted the Republican Party to unite behind one conservative candidate.
In March 2016, Walker supported Ted Cruz for president. Later, when Donald Trump became the likely Republican nominee, Walker said he would support Trump. He believed Trump would be a better president than Hillary Clinton.
After Being Governor
In July 2019, Walker said he would become the president of Young America's Foundation. This is a conservative student organization. He said this job would prevent him from running for political office again soon.
In July 2019, President Trump appointed Walker to a board of trustees for the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
His Ideas and Beliefs
Economy and Budget
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As Governor, Walker received good grades from the Cato Institute. This group studies how states manage their money.
Wisconsin is known as "America's Dairyland." In 2012, Walker started a program to encourage dairy farmers to produce more milk. This led to too much milk and lower prices for years. This made it hard for dairy farmers.
Environment
Walker signed a pledge not to support any new taxes to fight climate change. He proposed cutting funds for clean energy programs. He also wanted states to have more power over environmental rules instead of the federal government. He opposed efforts to reduce carbon emissions.
Foreign Policy
In 2015, Walker said he supported giving weapons to Ukraine. This was to help them in the Russo-Ukrainian War.
He also said that if he became president, he would cancel any nuclear deal with Iran. He believed the U.S. should "go beyond just aggressive air strikes" in Syria. He said the U.S. should be ready to send troops if needed.
Walker said that President Ronald Reagan firing striking air traffic controllers in 1981 was a very important foreign policy decision. He felt it sent a strong message to the world.
Guns
Walker supported gun rights. In 2011, he signed a law allowing people to carry concealed guns in Wisconsin. He also signed a "castle doctrine" law. This law allows people to use force to protect themselves in their homes.
In 2015, Walker signed two more gun laws. One removed the 48-hour waiting period to buy a gun. The other allowed retired or off-duty police officers to carry concealed guns in public schools.
Immigration
Walker said that securing the border with Mexico was the "first priority." He believed that undocumented immigrants should "get in the back of line" to become citizens. He did not support giving them immediate amnesty.
In 2015, Walker said building a wall along the Canada-United States border was "a legitimate issue." He also said he would work to "protect American workers" by slowing down legal immigration.
Role of Government
Walker wrote that he believed government was "too big and too expansive." But he also said that the necessary parts of government "should work—and work well."
Unions
Walker believed that public-union collective bargaining rights made it hard to balance the state budget. He signed right-to-work legislation. He said this would help the economy grow. His actions against unions helped his reputation within the Republican Party.
Youth Rights
On May 24, 2017, Walker signed a bill. This bill allowed young people under 18 to attend concerts and music festivals without an adult. On June 21, 2017, he signed another bill. This bill allowed 16- and 17-year-olds to work without their parents' permission.
Personal Life
Scott Walker and his wife, Tonette, have two sons, Alex and Matt. They attend Meadowbrook Church in Wauwatosa. Tonette Walker works for the American Lung Association.
From 2004 to 2009, Walker led a motorcycle tour called the "Executive's Ride." He rode his Harley Davidson motorcycle through Wisconsin and nearby states. The ride was meant to attract people to Milwaukee County.
In 2013, Walker published a book called Unintimidated – A Governor's Story and A Nation's Challenge. He wrote it with Marc Thiessen. The book is about his experiences during the recall election.
Images for kids
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Scott Walker's signature
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Scott Walker in 2009
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Governor Walker at the Milwaukee Veterans Affairs Medical Center
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Walker after winning the 2010 Republican gubernatorial primary
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Scott Walker speaks before the gubernatorial election
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Walker after winning re-election as governor of Wisconsin in 2014
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Walker signing Historic Tax Credit Bill December 11, 2013 at Hotel Northland
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Walker speaking at the 2015 Conservative Political Action Conference
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Governor Walker speaking at the Arizona Chamber of Commerce & Industry's Leadership Series luncheon in Phoenix, Arizona
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Walker in 2011, speaking to troops who would participate in the NATO-led peacekeeping mission in Kosovo
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Governor Walker speaking at the Chatham House in London in 2015
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Governor Walker at 2015 Southern Republican Leadership Conference in Oklahoma City, OK
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Walker embraces his wife Tonette during his 2016 presidential campaign announcement with their sons present
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