Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli is throwing his weight and political machine into the Wisconsin gubernatorial recall race.
Cuccinelli wrote to supporters Wednesday asking them to contribute to Republican Gov. Scott Walker, who’s fighting Democratic effort to kick him out of office midway through his first term.
The email comes at a time when Cuccinelli, a rising conservative star, has been largely absent from outside political races. He did not endorse a Republican presidential candidate and said he’ll also stay neutral in Virginia’s U.S. Senate race until after June 12 primary.
Walker, who faces Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett on June 5 in a rematch of the 2010 election, is under fire from unions and Democrats for striping public employees of their collective bargaining powers. Cuccinelli, a strong advocate of Virginia’ right-to-work laws, said the race “will be a clash of political forces of titanic proportions that will affect how (and whether) others in politics will meaningfully take on our biggest challenges.”
Democrats contend Walker’s actions divided the state, as seen by the massive demonstrations inside and outside the capitol last spring. But they also have focused on Wisconsin’s lackluster employment growth that is far short of the 250,000 new jobs Walker promised to create by the end of his first term.
Cuccinelli noted only two instances when he asked his backers to contribute to a race outside Virginia: Pat Toomey’s Pennsylvania primary challenge of Republican Sen. Arlen Specter in 2004 and then-candidate Marco Rubio in his race against former Gov. Charlie Crist in Florida.
“No chief executive (certainly not the President!) has so bluntly and effectively taken on the entire spectrum of pro-big-government forces,” Cuccinelli wrote.
Also on the June 5 recall ballot are Republican Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch and four Wisconsin senators who backed Walker’s union-busting plan.
