Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker in 2012 quietly repealed equal pay protections for women. You wouldn’t know that from a recent Walker campaign ad.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker in 2012 quietly repealed equal pay protections for women. You wouldn’t know that from a recent Walker campaign ad.

Scott Walker/Youtube

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker in 2012 quietly repealed equal pay protections for women. You wouldn’t know that from a recent Walker campaign ad in which Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch criticizes Democratic opponent Mary Burke, saying she finds it “insulting” that Burke would suggest Walker is “trying to make it harder for women to earn equal pay.”

In the ad, Kleefisch says:

I find it insulting that Mary Burke would say that we’re trying to make it harder for women to earn equal pay. Under Scott Walker, workplace discrimination will always be illegal, for any reason. Mary Burke wants to create more opportunities to sue, we want to create more opportunities for women to succeed.

The law repealed by Walker in 2012 gave teeth to the state’s Fair Employment Act, which outlaws gender-based discrimination in the workplace.

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The Equal Pay Enforcement Act gave workers more power to hold their employers accountable by allowing “individuals to plead their cases in less costly, more accessible state circuit court system, rather than just in federal court.”

Walker repealed the bill quietly and without a press release explaining his decision.

Polls show that the race between Walker and Burke is deadlocked, with Burke leading Walker among women voters. Walker could be a 2016 GOP presidential candidate after becoming a right-wing hero in the wake of draconian collective bargaining crackdowns, among various other far-right policies he’s pushed through as governor of purple Wisconsin.

Walker isn’t the only Republican trying to appear “pro-woman” while glossing over their history.

Colorado U.S. Senate candidate Cory Gardner proclaimed his support for over-the-counter birth control, even though he wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which provides full coverage of birth control to women with insurance.

Gardner also claimed that a fetal personhood bill he co-sponsored doesn’t exist. And in New Hampshire, Republican Scott Brown called himself “pro-choice” in an ad, despite having said in the past that he opposes legal abortion, even in cases of rape or incest.

Watch the full Walker campaign ad: