First 2016 presidential hopeful to open an Iowa office: Scott Walker

Scott Walker, the Republican who leads the presidential pack in Iowa polling, is the first of the 2016 White House aspirants to open an office here.

A political organization created by Walker, the governor of Wisconsin, has leased the space at 2775 86th St. in Urbandale – an office with a storied Republican political history.

The strip-mall storefront, located behind a Panera Bread cafe, has been occupied over the years by campaigns for Terry Branstad for governor, Tom Latham for Congress, Bill Northey for agriculture secretary and other Iowa races as part of GOP Victory efforts. In 2012, it headquartered Michele Bachmann's team for the Iowa caucuses and Mitt Romney's general election campaign. It was John McCain and Sarah Palin's Midwest regional campaign headquarters in 2008.

Walker's Our American Revival 527 organization has claimed it for 2016.

The office could eventually become a campaign headquarters for Walker if he chooses to run for president, which is looking entirely likely at this point as he establishes a presence Iowa, boosts his national profile and staffs up with political strategists. The first-in-the-nation caucuses here are tentatively set for Feb. 1, 2016 - a little less a year away.

Two draft movements already have Iowa offices. Activists who are hoping for presidential bids by Republican former neurosurgeon Ben Carson and Democratic U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts have spaces. A third, Ready for Hillary, doesn't have an Iowa office at this point, but has activists here organizing for former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

This is the first location directly connected to a potential contender, although Walker's Our American Revival says for now that the organization is about transferring power out of Washington and back to the states and the people, not a White House campaign. The new office here is meant "to engage with the citizens of Iowa," an adviser said.

Iowans noticed action from Team Walker at the building and told The Des Moines Register. Aides for Walker's political organization confirmed to the Register the office is now open.

Walker's Jan. 24 Iowa Freedom Summit appearance, his first political speech here since May 2013, was essentially his debut on the presidential campaign stage. More than 100 Iowa and national reporters were in attendance, and the widespread conclusion was that there was more clamor for Walker from the conservative audience than for any of the other eight White House hopefuls there.

A Des Moines Register/Bloomberg Politics poll shows Walker is at the front of the pack in Iowa among likely GOP caucusgoers, followed by Kentucky U.S. Sen. Rand Paul and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee. In New Hampshire, the state that follows Iowa on the presidential nomination voting calendar, Walker's in third place. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is in the lead there, followed by Paul, according to a Bloomberg poll released Sunday.

"Walker is probably the most formidable contender so far in the presidential nomination for the Republicans," said Stephen Schmidt, a longtime political scientist at Iowa State University. "He's a successful acting governor. He's conservative but nuanced. He's not a loud and pompous guy. He looks presidential. And, above all, he scares the hell out of Democrats."

Walker will be back in Iowa on March 7 for another multi-contender forum, the Iowa Agriculture Summit.

His Urbandale office is in the heart of suburban Des Moines GOP territory from which the party draws many of its volunteers.

Where are the Iowa field offices for 2016 presidential efforts?