Scott Walker to finish second term, will not take a D.C. cabinet post

Madison— In a conference call with donors Wednesday afternoon, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said he'll serve out his second term, won't take a cabinet appointment in Washington, D.C., and is still considering whether to run for a third term as governor in 2018.

The Republican governor made the private call to thank some of the donors who contributed millions of dollars to back his short-lived campaign for president.

"I'm going to be governor for a little more than three years, I haven't made a decision whether to run for a third term," Walker told donors. "No matter what, I'm the governor. I don't plan on going anywhere."

Walker's campaign folded just 70 days after the governor officially entered the race for president, marking the third shortest presidential campaign since 1972 and the shortest of a top tier candidate in more than a generation, according to Smart Politics, the website of University of Minnesota political scientist Eric Ostermeier.

Walker, who met with lawmakers in the Capitol Wednesday about the fall legislative agenda, is expected to hold an event Friday in Beaver Dam — his first since he suspended his campaign Monday. He'll concentrate on electing Republicans this fall and governing the state, he said.

On the call, Walker confirmed what has already been reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel and other media outlets. His campaign, he said, simply lacked the cash needed to come through its recent difficulties and that he was not convinced that downsizing its staff and budget and likely going into debt would have allowed him to win the GOP nomination.

"When revenues are not meeting expenses you've got to look seriously at what action to take," Walker said. "I was looking at whether a change would change the outcome as opposed to delaying the outcome."

Democrats immediately hit back at Walker's pledge to serve out his second term, noting that in October 2014 he had made similar statements only to win re-election the next month and quickly start planning his presidential bid.

"My plan — if the voters approve — is to serve as governor for the next four years," Walker said then.

Mike Browne of the liberal group One Wisconsin Now said he was skeptical.

"Isn't Walker claiming he plans to serve his full term now eerily similar to his earlier claim?" he asked.

Minneapolis broadcasting billionaire Stanley Hubbard was among the Walker donors on Wednesday's call. He said afterward he was disappointed Walker dropped out but thought candidates such as U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Caroline and former Arkansas Gov.Mike Huckabee should follow Walker's lead.

"I wish other people would be smart and drop out, too," Hubbard said.

Walker told donors he was particularly disappointed in the second GOP presidential debate held at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., saying that it focused too much on real estate mogul Donald Trump and wasn't in keeping with the optimistic vision of his political idol.

"One of my frustrations at that debate was how many of the questions revolved around negative attacks that the front-runner (Trump) had issued on others," Walker said. "Too much of the coverage is on the ankle biting and the name calling and not which candidates have the best plan."

Republicans are already talking with Walker about traveling the state in the coming days to send the message that he is back on the job, according to sources familiar with his thinking and his unsuccessful campaign for president.

"He is going to get around the state and hit all the media markets," one GOP source said.

Travel cost reimbursements

In one outstanding issue for taxpayers, Walker's campaign and another political organization that he set up have agreed to pay for the travel expenses of Walker's security detail that are usually covered by state taxpayers. Walker spokeswoman Laurel Patrick said those payments would be made "through the normal reimbursement process."

The campaign has paid about $14,000 to cover such expenses from mid-June to Aug. 1 and will soon pay for ones since then, campaign spokeswoman Kirsten Kukowski said. The other organization Walker set up, Our American Revival, is expected to pick up expenses from earlier in the year.

A report filed last month by Our American Revival said the group had paid the department $33,427 for security services on June 25 and $5,829 on May 26 for the use of a state vehicle.

The campaign and Our American Revival are paying for the security team's travel costs, but not the salaries and benefits of those state troopers. Those costs are borne by taxpayers, including overtime hours the state was recently ordered to pay by the federal Department of Labor.

For a political trip to Israel in May and a trade mission to western Europe in April, Walker's administration and campaign have not yet released figures on how much the governor's travel cost and who paid what portion of those expenses.

Since July, Walker's campaign raised more than $5 million but ran through its cash almost as quickly as it came in. Beaten back by a series of gaffes, uninspired debate performances and the rise of outsider candidates like Trump, fundraising for Walker's campaign dried up in recent weeks even as the bills streamed in.

The governor's campaign manager, Rick Wiley, declined to push back Wednesday against the talk that he had mismanaged Walker's effort by building out a large operation and hiring a staff of about 90 people with a payroll in the hundreds of thousands of dollars a month.

"He went out in style on Monday and I'm going to do the same" Wiley said of Walker. "I have such respect for the governor. He would have made a tremendous president... It's an unfortunate ending."

The Journal Sentinel reported that Wiley did not attend a sobering meeting at the governor's mansion Monday morning, which was organized, in part, by Walker's wife, Tonette, and attended by a handful of longtime advisers to the governor.

Besides the rise of Trump, the explanations for Walker's stunning slide from a near front-runner to an also ran have focused on the governor's own performance on the campaign trail and on Wiley's costly operation. Those factors conspired to leave the governor with nearly no support in the polls and no financial cushion to protect against a sudden letup in campaign fundraising.

"The fundamental problem is the campaign got built for March 2016 in August 2015. They should have been lean and mean," a Republican familiar with the campaign's circumstances said.

Super PAC funds

The governor's super PAC, Unintimidated, still had $15 million to $20 million in cash left to run ads supporting Walker and at least the potential to gain more money quickly through unlimited contributions from wealthy donors. But the governor's own campaign account — responsible for paying costs like putting Walker's name on the ballot, polling and travel costs — didn't have the needed cash.

Under federal campaign rules Walker needed lots of small to large donors, not just a handful of megadonors. The governor alluded to the problems with retaining smaller contributors in his Wednesday conference call.

A source familiar with the campaign's final days said that the Walker loyalists running Unintimidated were considering whether the super PAC could act in a highly unusual role and take on many of the campaign's functions such as setting up events in early states. But that idea didn't go far because Walker pulled out before it could be fully explored.

Some of those familiar with the campaign's ending said that the governor himself did not look into and learn of the extent of the financial woes until recent days, when he deemed it too late to overcome them.

"He does not get into the nitty-gritty details," said one source familiar with the campaign. "He trusts staff and allows them to do their jobs."

Republican sources close to Walker scoffed at the idea that he would not finish out the remaining three years in his second term or that, as some have suggested, he might run for U.S. Senate eventually by challenging incumbent Democrat Tammy Baldwin in 2018.

"He is never going to run for U.S. Senate. I'd bet my house on it. He's never going to go there," one said.