ORLANDO — Scott Walker ruled out a 2018 Senate bid but indicated in an interview that he is leaning toward seeking a third term as Wisconsin’s governor.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat, is up for re-election in two years and Republicans are eying her seat in the wake of President-elect Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton in Wisconsin last week. It was the first time the Republican nominee had won Wisconsin since 1984.
Walker told the Washington Examiner that Baldwin is “incredibly vulnerable,” but added that he won’t be the one to challenge her.
The governor said he would sit down with his family in the next couple of weeks to discuss a 2018 re-election bid and make a final decision next year after passage of the state budget.
“There’s a number of potential high-quality candidates that I think, should they get in, could defeat Sen. Baldwin,” Walker said. “If I run for anything it will be for re-election in 2018.
“Tommy Thompson did four terms, so it’s not impossible,” Walker added, when asked if he was concerned about voter fatigue in a third gubernatorial campaign, fourth counting his surviving a 2012 recall attempt.
“The key for me — not just for the electorate, but for me personally — is part of my decision is getting my [family’s support,] part of it is thinking, ‘What more can I accomplish that we haven’t already done?'” Walker said. “I’m not going to run because I want to be governor … I’m not going to linger around just for the sake of doing so.”
Walker, 49, ran for president in 2016, dropping out of the race early in the primary process. This week, he became chairman of the Republican Governors Association and was in Orlando, Fla., for the group’s regularly scheduled post-election conference.
Walker and his colleagues expressed excitement about what they might be able to accomplish with a friendly GOP administration in the White House. They said that President Obama has stymied many of their reform proposals for social programs.
The opportunity to implement reform of Obamacare in Wisconsin, which would also involve changes to Medicaid, the government-run health insurance program for the poor, is one factor that might convince Walker to stick around for another four years.
Walker said that his top policy advisor from his presidential campaign, Andrew Bremberg, is working in the Trump transition team. Bremberg also previously worked for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
Walker said that Bremberg’s presence in the Trump operation leaves him hopeful that the president-elect will embrace the market-driven, tax credit-reliant replacement proposal for the Affordable Care Act that he adopted as a presidential candidate.
“One of the keys I think that would play a big role in my decision about re-election, though, is what happens in Washington,” the governor said. “They’ve said, I assume they will — we’ll see — but I’m optimistic that they will repeal Obamacare and replace it with something better.
“I want that to happen. But I want to make sure the way it happens is a replacement that’s not government-driven but still finds a way to support people that are legitimately in need in my state.”
