Gov. Scott Walker has opened up an office in Iowa, becoming the first potential 2016 presidential candidate to do so and marking his latest step in a likely candidacy.
The office for Walker’s organization, Our American Revival, is located in Urbandale and is just west of Des Moines, according to the Des Moines Register, which first reported the news.
Walker’s stock in Iowa has risen since his speech last month at the Iowa Freedom Summit. After that speech, he narrowly got the top spot among Iowa Republicans in a Des Moines Register poll and made several national reporters list him as one of the current frontrunners for the GOP nomination.
Iowa, which traditionally has the first electoral caucus in the nation, is an essential state for Walker to perform well in to gain national recognition as a credible candidate, according to Howard Schweber, a University of Wisconsin political science professor.
“Iowa is a launching pad,” he said. “If Walker comes out of Iowa strong, he would gain national prominence as a result.”
In New Hampshire, another early voting state, Walker ranked third among potential Republican primary candidates in a poll from Bloomberg Politics/Saint Anselm, which had former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul ahead of Walker.
Schweber said if Walker were to do well in Iowa and New Hampshire, he would establish that he can appeal to all ranges of the Republican Party, from the large contingent of religious conservatives in Iowa to the more secular and business-oriented New Hampshire Republicans.
Walker is currently in London for a four-day business trip, which may help him establish himself as an international figure, Schweber said.
Schweber compared Walker’s lack of foreign policy experience to former President George W. Bush, who stumbled early in his candidacy with international affairs.
“Walker faces a bit of a George W. Bush issue, so he needs to establish himself as a plausible international global figure,” Schweber said. “George W. Bush succeeded in doing that and Walker could be the same, but that is certainly a point he needs to work on.”
