Affiliation Republican Party | ||
 | ||
Campaign U.S. presidential election, 2016 Candidate Scott Walker
Governor of Wisconsin (2011–present) Status Announced: July 13, 2015
Suspended: September 21, 2015 Headquarters P.O. Box 620590
Middleton, Wisconsin Key people Michael W. Grebe (campaign manager)
Jon Hammes (co-chair campaign fundraising)
Todd Ricketts (co-chair campaign fundraising)
Kate Lind (treasurer)
Joe Fadness | ||
The 2016 presidential campaign of Scott Walker, the 45th Governor of Wisconsin, was announced via social media on the morning of July 13, 2015, with Walker speaking at a formal event in Waukesha, Wisconsin that afternoon. The scheduling of an announcement event was made public on July 2, two weeks after the formation of a "testing the waters" fundraising committee. Walker's campaign ended on September 21, 2015. Governor Walker later endorsed Ted Cruz on March 29, 2016, one week before the Wisconsin primary.
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Announcement
On July 13, 2015, Walker announced that he is a Republican candidate in the 2016 presidential race in a Facebook post before a formal announcement event in Wisconsin.“I'm in. I'm running for President of the United States because Americans deserve a leader who will fight and win for them." The Facebook post also included a video where Walker said his, "track record as governor sets him apart from the rest of the Republican field as a proven leader who has succeeded in winning elections and taking on big policy battles." He also said, "I am running for president to fight and win for the American people," and "Without sacrificing our principles, we won three elections in four years in a blue state. We did it by leading."
Walker, who started his campaign as a top tier candidate after what was considered a "break-out" event at the Iowa Freedom Caucus in January, saw his position gradually decline over the summer in 2015. On August 6, Walker participated in the first Republican primary debate in Cleveland, Ohio. His performance was seen as decent, without much fanfare nor attention given to it due to his short answers to questions which limited his airtime. Shortly after the debate, Walker admitted to wanting more airtime, but also mentioned that there were multiple debates ahead and that he was successful in changing the argument to which candidate could defeat Hillary Clinton in the general election. A national poll by CNN/ORC released on September 20, in the wake of the second Republican debate held at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, revealed that Walker's popularity among likely Republican voters had dropped to less than half of 1 percent.
End
On September 21, 2015, Walker suspended his campaign after low polling numbers. Once considered a front runner for the Republican nomination, Walker's campaign suffered from two lackluster debate performances, low fundraising and an inability to raise his profile among the 16 other GOP contenders.