More than the Badger State’s top job is riding on the re-election campaign of Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker,
according to The New York Times, which notes that if Walker wins, it could clear a path for him to the White House in 2016.
If Walker loses to Mary Burke, an Ivy League-educated Democrat and former Wisconsin Commerce Department secretary, "his currency as a presidential contender will surely vanish," according to Times writer Monica Davey.
Davey's sentiments are shared by some of Walker’s Democratic foes, including Wisconsin Senate Minority Leader Chris Larson who noted: "If we beat him here, that’s it — game over."
Though Walker is seeking his second term, it’s is his third campaign in four years,
notes The Associated Press. Walker, a Republican, was elected governor in 2010 and won a recall election two years later after an uproar over his law targeting public workers' collective bargaining rights.
"I've had to run three times in four years so it's pretty crazy to not want to continue to be governor," Walker told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "And I think we're just getting humming. I think things are just picking up. I'd like to see this out."
Like many of the midterm races across the country, Wisconsin’s is tight. The race has come down to the state’s economy and Walker’s conservative ideology and leadership, according to Davey, who characterizes the election as a "final exam for the policy laboratory Mr. Walker has created, including cutting collective bargaining rights for public-sector unions and eliminating $2 billion in taxes."
Under Walker’s tutelage, he and the Wisconsin Legislature, which is now a majority of Republican, have cut taxes, frozen public university tuition, set new limits on early voting, permitted concealed weapons and expanded school vouchers, the Times reports.
The aggressive agenda, and his stance on collective bargaining in his state, catapulted Walker to being considered by the GOP as a potential contender for the presidency in 2016.
Walker is downplaying questions about his future plans, assuring voters that he’s only focused on being governor right now.
"I want to be a governor," Walker said. "I'm 46. God willing if some day that was even something to consider, that's a long ways off."
He also laughed off any purported desire to seek the presidency as "a little crazy," according to the AP.
"Anybody who wants to be president has to be a little crazy, so I don't know if I want to be classified as crazy," he said.
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