Gov. Scott Walker is planning ahead. He says he won’t seek a fourth term as governor in 2022.
That means he is confident of winning a third term in the 2018 election, despite polls showing public support ranging in the low to mid-40 percentile. Earlier this year, he said he wouldn’t run for president again as an incumbent governor.
The governor’s state campaign committee had $143,230 in the bank at the start of October, but his presidential campaign organization still has about $382,000 to pay off. Efforts to raise money should improve after the current political season ends next week. He’s not on the ballot this year.
Money shouldn’t be a problem for Walker no matter how many more times he runs for governor. Data that flowed from the John Doe investigation showed Walker was able to raise millions of dollars through a side organization which supported his election efforts.
He has donor lists for sale that include 172,415 names of donors for state campaigns and 69,552 for his brief and unsuccessful presidential campaign. The 2018 election is important because the winner of the governor’s race will have a veto over reapportionment of legislative and congressional districts that follow the 2020 federal census.
Due to existing district lines, Republicans likely will control the 2021 legislative session that will develop new district lines. A Republican governor is necessary to assure a Republican drafted map plan is implemented. In turn, that map could set the stage for Republican control of the Legislature for another decade, into the 2030s.
-Matt Pommer is the “dean” of Capitol correspondents in Madison. His column is published with permission from the Wisconsin Newspaper Association, but does not reflect the views or opinions of the WNA or its member newspapers.
