Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker plans to tell Republicans at their annual convention Saturday that he is "ready" for four more years, eliminating any questions left about whether he would seek a third term.
"I'm ready. I'm ready to help lead Wisconsin forward for four more years. But I need your help," Walker plans to tell Republicans, according to excerpts of his speech provided to the Wisconsin State Journal by his campaign.
Walker has repeatedly signaled he would seek a third term, but has said he will not formally announce his decision until after the 2017-19 state budget process is complete later this year.
"We won in 2010 with a grassroots army of volunteers. We won with an even bigger force during the recall election in 2012. And we won with another grassroots flurry in 2014," Walker plans to say. "Now, we need your help again."
Walker's comments - the clearest signal yet that he plans to run again - come after several high-profile Democrats have announced they won't challenge him, or whomever runs if Walker doesn't.
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Just one Democratic candidate has announced he will run in 2018: 25-year-old Bob Harlow. Mike McCabe, former executive director of the liberal-leaning Wisconsin Democracy Campaign which tracks campaign spending, also has expressed interest in running in 2018 but has not yet said whether he will run as a Democrat or Independent.
State Democrats pounced on the release of Walker's comments, saying Walker won't be able to win over Wisconsin voters a fourth time after unsuccessfully running for president in 2015 and "failing to find a long-term solution to fix our state's (fourth-) worst in the nation transportation infrastructure."
"While the governor will rely on his wealthy special interests friends to buy another term we're organizing locally, with regional organizers in the field earlier than ever before, building a true grassroots operation that will turn our state around and give every Wisconsinite a fair opportunity to achieve the American Dream," Democratic Party of Wisconsin spokesman Brandon Weathersby said in a statement.
While Democrats also criticized Walker for struggling job growth under his watch, Walker plans to emphasize Saturday the state's unemployment rate, which has dropped below 4 percent.
"People often ask me if I am going to run again in 2018," Walker plans to say. "Well, with record levels of employment in the state of Wisconsin, the better question is, 'Why wouldn't I run for re-election?' "
In another sign of a pending run, Walker also on Friday named Joe Fadness as his campaign manager. Fadness worked for Walker's campaign in 2010 and over the past couple years.
The latest Marquette Law School Poll found 45 percent of Wisconsin residents approve of Walker's job performance, which is the highest approval rating he has received in the poll since his re-election in 2014, but still below his 50 percent approval level in early 2013.
But after his approval rating tanked during a short-lived presidential run in 2015, he spent time last year hosting private meetings around the state and announced plans to ratchet up his campaign fundraising.
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His summer announcement about whether he'll run will come after lawmakers decide how much of Walker's 2017-19 spending proposal to keep in the state budget they pass.
His budget proposal included millions more in funding for K-12 schools across the state than even requested by state Superintendent Tony Evers, who is supported by Democrats, and a boost in state tax money for rural schools, municipal and county road repair funding and broadband infrastructure - all appealing to voters in northern, central and western parts of the state where his approval rating has sagged.
He also has been crisscrossing the state visiting dozens of public schools to promote his proposed increase for schools - $649 million in new funding.
The governor has faced loud criticism from public school advocates and unions representing public school teachers since his signature legislation known as Act 10 effectively stripped collective bargaining from the relationship between school boards and their employees, and decimated teachers unions' cash reserves and influence.
The governor's budget proposal also included a targeted increase in the earned income tax credit and homestead credit and an income tax cut that makes the tax code more progressive, blocking an attack line from liberals.
And it included elimination of the prevailing wage, municipal project-labor agreements, and government boards and commissions, and a requirement that the Legislature approve agency rules with an economic impact greater than $10 million, appeasing conservatives.
