Gov. Scott Walker said Friday his presidential campaign remains $1 million in the red, despite a spurt of fundraising in the final quarter of 2015. Credit: Associated Press

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Madison— Scott Walker's former presidential campaign still owes more than $1 million, despite raising $500,000 in the last three months of 2015.

Also Friday, the Republican governor said he's dropping the practice his political operations adopted last year of paying for the travel costs to campaign events for Walker's state security team. Taxpayers will now, as they did before the presidential campaign, foot the costs of both the travel and salaries of the governor's security when he leaves the state for political events.

As of the end of last year, Walker's White House campaign had about $1.2 million in obligations left and about $153,000 in cash that partially offsets those debts.

Though Walker has raised nearly $8 million for his short run, his operation spent the cash faster than he could raise it over the campaign's 71-day life, and he dropped out of the 2016 presidential race in September.

A report filed Friday with federal elections officials shows the resulting burden won't be an easy one, even for the best political fundraiser in state history.

"Governor Walker made substantial progress in addressing financial commitments over the last quarter, and he remains humbled by the outpouring of support from friends across the country who continue to believe in his common sense reform agenda," spokesman Joe Fadness said.

The filings show Walker still owes hundreds of thousands of dollars to a number of companies, including fundraising and communications consultants, direct mail companies, and photographers and video producers.

His highest debts include: $317,000 to FLS Connect LLC, a Minnesota-based telemarketing company; $82,000 to a Washington, D.C.-based legal consulting company, Jones Day; $70,000 to SCM Associates, a New Hampshire based direct mail printing company; $59,000 to the Lukens Co., an Arlington-based direct mail printing company; $44,000 in event staging expenses to MMA Events, a Maryland-based company; and $39,000 to an Alexandria-based video production company, Sharp Politics.

Walker also got some help from his state campaign committee, Friends of Scott Walker, which purchased $14,682 of items from the presidential campaign.

And he rented his voter list to Voter Gravity Inc., and Granite Lists LLC, for $20,000 and $15,700.70, respectively.

The governor did make some progress paying off his debts in the wake of his failed presidential bid.

He had owed about $10,500 to the Waukesha County Expo Center, where he officially launched his 2016 campaign in July, but paid that bill in full.

Walker also refunded 152 contributions for a total of $407,546.24.

Walker's presidential campaign took in $2.4 million and $1.2 million during July and August. Those figures dropped off dramatically in September, with $484,521, and October, with $35,279. The campaign still managed to break six figures in individual contributions in November and December, bringing in $127,498 and $151,334, respectively.

Also Friday, Walker's affiliated Unintimidated PAC reported that it took in $3.7 million in itemized receipts in the last half of 2015. The grand majority of that money came from two families: Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein contributed $2.5 million; and Mary and Mike Shannon of Milwaukee contributed another $500,000. Richard Uihlein is CEO of Pleasant Prairie-based Uline Corp. Mike Shannon is the CEO of KSL Capital Partners.

The PAC filed termination papers Friday.

State officials also said Friday that in the future, Walker's political operations will no longer reimburse state taxpayers for his security team's travel expenses.

Walker's political operations have reimbursed state taxpayers $260,000 to cover hotel stays, airfare and other travel expenses last year for his security team. But in the future, taxpayers will have to pay such costs when state troopers accompany Walker on political trips, said Jim Dick, a spokesman for the state Department of Administration.

Walker decided last year to have his political operations pick up some of those costs while he crisscrossed the country and traveled overseas as he explored and launched his presidential campaign.

But Walker is returning to the previous practice as used by other governors of both parties. Democrat Jim Doyle, for instance, brought security along on his travels to political and other events, such as a December 2010 visit to Cancun for a United Nation climate change conference.

The Wisconsin governor was an early favorite in the Republican field after surging in the wake of a January 2015 speech in Iowa, but then began to flounder as real estate mogul Donald Trump surged and Walker had to clarify statements about birthright citizenship and building a wall on Canada's border.

Patrick Marley of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.