Scott Walker’s GOP Primary Victory
Selected highlights from Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker’s victory party at the American Serb Hall in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Scott Walker officially won the GOP’s gubernatorial nomination on Tuesday, September 14th, defeating rival republican Mark Neumann.
Filmed by Jacob Bielanski for The Badger Herald.
Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett won the Democratic candidacy for governor by a landslide margin during Tuesday’s primary elections.
Barrett easily won the primary over Oconomowoc businessman Tim John, with 90 percent voting for Barrett and 10 percent voting for John.
“The choice before voters this November is crystal clear. I am running for Wisconsin governor to fight for jobs…and bring adult leadership to the capitol focused on getting things done,” Barrett said in a statement released Tuesday night.
Barrett has had extensive political experience, serving in both houses of the state Legislature as well as the U.S. House of Representatives.
Among Barrett’s high-profile supporters are Doyle and President Barack Obama, endorsements which Republicans have used as attacks on Barrett. At his victory party Tuesday, Walker called Barrett a third-term Doyle.
“Are we better off today than we were eight years ago [before Doyle]? Well if anyone here […] believes in this, you should vote for Tom Barrett,” Walker said.
Barrett dismissed Republican overconfidence at a University of Wisconsin campus visit Tuesday. He said during his statewide visits no one he talked with wanted the Bush economics back.
“[Republicans] think they’ve got it in the bag. They’re counting their grapes; they’re ordering the stationery because their whole strategy is that [young people] will not vote,” Barrett, a UW alum, said. “Our challenge…is to let them know we do remember who drove the economic car into the ditch.”
Barrett acknowledged it is a tough economic time and there is still a long way to recovery, but he is optimistic and said the Democrats’ plans will eventually put the country on the right track.
In particular, Barrett highlighted his plan to “put Madison on a diet,” which includes cuts to prisoner health care and eliminating the offices of state Treasurer and Secretary of State. The plan is estimated to save the state at least $1.1 billion per year.
Barrett and Walker will now square off in a series of debates leading up to Election Day on Nov. 2. Three debates have already been scheduled, two of which will be in Milwaukee, and one will be in Madison.
