If you haven’t started your countdown to Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker’s 2016 announcement already, now’s the time to begin.
Walker hinted again at his White House ambitions at a campaign event in Ashwaubenon on Friday, when he refused to commit himself to serving a full term in office if he wins re-election in November, the Green Bay Press Gazette reported.
“I’ve never made a time commitment anywhere I’ve been in office,” he said. “I’ve always made promises about what I would do and how I would do it. I’m not going to change now.”
While he said he had a “plan for the next four years,” the reporter asked Walker specifically if he would sit out the 2016 national elections.
Walker is in the middle of a tough campaign against Democrat Mary Burke. Recent polls show the two candidates in a virtual tie. In addition, the recent reinstatement of the state’s strict voter ID law could cause chaos on Election Day.
Walker’s national aims have been a source of speculation since 2011, when he signed an anti-union measure that effectively crushed public sector unions in the state. The move was so controversial that it led to massive protests in Madison and an occupation of the state capitol building.
More than a million people at the time signed recall petitions for the governor, although Walker beat back his recall challenge in 2012.
Walker also declined to promise he’d serve a full term back in April, when he dodged a question from the Associated Press and said only, “I want to be governor and that’s the only thing I’ve been focused on.”
Walker campaigned with fellow likely presidential hopeful Chris Christie on Monday. The New Jersey governor and Republican Governor’s Association head was reelected in his state in 2013.
Meredith Clark
Meredith Clark is a freelance writer and editor. She was previously a senior news producer for "Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj," a reporter with MSNBC.com, the digital politics and culture editor at Glamour and a senior news and politics editor at Refinery29. She has written for Vulture, Rolling Stone, Self, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, The Daily Beast and Bustle.