Scott Walker Fast Facts

CNN Editorial Research

(CNN) — Here is a look at the life of Scott Walker, former Republican governor of Wisconsin.

Personal

Birth date: November 2, 1967

Birth place: Colorado Springs, Colorado

Birth name: Scott Kevin Walker

Father: Llewellyn Walker, Baptist preacher

Mother: Patricia (Fitch) Walker, bookkeeper

Marriage: Tonette (Tarantino) Walker

Children: Matt; Alex

Education: Attended Marquette University, 1986-1990

Religion: Christian

Other Facts

Is the first governor in US history to successfully survive a recall election.

Left Marquette University before graduating.

While a sophomore at Marquette, he unsuccessfully ran for student body president.

Walker is an Eagle Scout.

Timeline

1988-1990 – While a student at Marquette, Walker works part-time for IBM as a salesman.

1990 – Unsuccessful bid for Milwaukee’s 7th district seat in the Wisconsin State Assembly.

1990-1994 – Works for the American Red Cross in marketing and development.

1993-2002 – Wins a special election to represent Wauwatosa in the state assembly. He is reelected four times.

2002 – Walker is elected Milwaukee County Executive in a special election. He is reelected in 2004 and 2008. Over the years, gives back a portion of his salary, totaling more than $370,000.

January 2005-March 2006 – Runs for governor of Wisconsin but drops out.

April 28, 2009 – Announces that he is running for governor for a second time.

September 14, 2010 – Defeats Mark Neumann in the gubernatorial GOP primary, with 59% of the vote.

November 2, 2010 – Is elected governor, with 52% of the vote, defeating Democrat Tom Barrett. He is sworn in as the 45th governor of Wisconsin on January 3, 2011.

February 11, 2011 – Announces his budget-repair bill, which would increase the costs of benefits to public employees and curb their collective bargaining rights. The bill would combat a $137 million shortfall through the end of June, and a $3.6 billion gap by 2013.

February 15, 2011 – At Walker’s request, the bill, later known as Wisconsin Act 10, is introduced in the State Assembly and Senate.

February-March 2011 – Tens of thousands of people converge on the Wisconsin capitol building in Madison to protest Walker’s budget-cutting strategy.

February 17, 2011 – Walker calls on the 14 Democratic senators who fled to Illinois to return to Wisconsin in order to vote on the budget bill. The Democrats have called the bill an unnecessary attack on the rights of public employees, and their absence prevents a necessary quorum of 20 senators from voting on the bill.

March 9, 2011 – Wisconsin’s Republican-led Senate passes an amended version of Walker’s bill to get around a Democratic walkout, by stripping financial provisions from the original proposal, enabling lawmakers to pass the measure with fewer votes. On March 10, the State Assembly passes the bill by a vote of 53-42. On March 11, Walker signs Act 10, the “budget repair bill,” into law.

March 18, 2011 – Dane County Circuit Court Judge Maryann Sumi halts enactment of the law so that she can hear a lawsuit filed by Democrats who say they were not given enough time to vote on it. On May 26, Judge Sumi grants a permanent injunction against the controversial new collective bargaining law, ruling that GOP legislators failed to provide sufficient public notice before passing the measure.

June 14, 2011 – Wisconsin’s Supreme Court, by a 4-3 vote, reinstates the contentious law that curbs the collective bargaining rights of most state employees. The decision sets aside Judge Sumi’s permanent injunction. The court rules the state Legislature did not violate the state’s constitution when it passed the legislation. The law goes into effect on June 29, 2011.

January 17, 2012 – Wisconsin Democratic Party officials announce that more than a million people have signed a petition to recall Walker as governor.

June 5, 2012 – Successfully overcomes a recall vote that would have removed him from office, by a margin of 53% to 46%. This is the first time in Wisconsin’s history that a governor has faced recall.

November 2013 – His book “Unintimidated: A Governor’s Story and a Nation’s Challenge,” co-authored with Marc Thiessen, is published.

July 31, 2014 – For a second time, the Wisconsin Supreme Court upholds Act 10, the 2011 collective bargaining rights law, in its entirety.

November 4, 2014 – Reelected governor of Wisconsin.

January 27, 2015 – Creates the political committee “Our American Revival” to help with travel and to raise funds in preparation for a potential White House bid.

July 13, 2015 – Announces his run for the Republican presidential nomination on Twitter, and later makes a formal announcement at an event in Waukesha, Wisconsin.

July 16, 2015 – Wisconsin’s Supreme Court rules 4-2 against looking into whether Walker broke state law in his 2012 recall battle by urging major donors to support his campaign by giving to outside groups without crucial donation limits he faced. On October 3, 2016, the US Supreme Court rejects an appeal by Wisconsin prosecutors, declining to reopen the investigation.

September 21, 2015 – Announces he is dropping out of the GOP presidential race.

March 29, 2016 – Endorses Ted Cruz for the Republican presidential nomination.

February 26, 2018 – Former Attorney General Eric Holder’s national redistricting organization files a suit against Walker, in an effort to compel the Wisconsin governor to hold special elections for two vacant legislative seats. Initially, Walker said he would wait to fill these seats until November. In March, Dane County Circuit Judge Josann Reynolds rules that Walker has to hold special elections.

November 6, 2018 – Walker loses his bid for a third term as governor to Democrat Tony Evers.

December 14, 2018 – Walker signs controversial legislation passed by the GOP-held legislature aimed at curtailing the powers of the incoming governor and attorney general.

January 7, 2019 – Leaves office.

July 9, 2020 – The Wisconsin Supreme Court upholds the constitutionality of the Walker signed legislation passed in December 2018, with the exception of several provisions regarding agency-issued guidance documents – striking down provisions that allowed for heavy oversight of state agency publications.

February 1, 2021 – Becomes president of the Young America’s Foundation (YAF), a national conservative youth organization.

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