Scott Walker likes to portray himself as the Kohl’s shopper who clips coupons from the Sunday newspaper to save an extra $10 on an already discounted price.

He built his political identity on fiscal austerity, at one point giving back to taxpayers about half of his county executive’s salary to prove a point. And while Walker is not a wealthy man— he has a negative net worth of $86,000 according to POLITICO’s analysis — he still enjoys a lifestyle far beyond the means of most Americans.


As governor, Scott Walker lives in a 34-room mansion overlooking Lake Mendota. He paid about $300,000 for his own four-bedroom home in Wauwatosa, slightly more than the median home value for the area.

Walker's latest disclosure reported gubernatorial income of $222,899, covering about a year-and-a-half of his official salary. His wife, Tonette Walker, works part time at the American Lung Association.

Walker’s most recent financial statements provided an opening for critics to attack his record of fiscal austerity. He reported a Barclays credit card with a balance of $10,000 to $15,000 at a high interest rate of 27.2 percent; a Bank of America credit card also with debt of $10,000 to $15,000; and federal loans of up to $250,000 to pay for college for his two sons.

Walker has yet to explain why he would carry a credit line at a higher-than-normal interest rate.

His decision years ago to return part of his salary — about $370,000 over six years — may help explain some of his current money issues.

He made the decision in 2002 when he was elected Milwaukee’s county executive and faced a budget shortfall. A former state lawmaker, he was then earning about $40,000 a year, and the new job tripled his salary to $129,000.

“To get the county on sound fiscal ground, I decided that we would all have to tighten our belts — starting with me,” Walker wrote in his book, Unintimidated: A Governor’s Story and a Nation’s Challenge.

Walker played up the decision in his run for governor in 2010.

“My wife was like, ‘We’re doing what?’” Walker said in his first campaign ad, referring to the returned salary. “But we believe the government spends too much and that included my salary. If you’ve had enough of government waste, let’s change it together.”

Today on the campaign trail, Walker stresses his thrifty lifestyle and humble upbringing.

“You see, my first job was washing dishes at the Countryside Restaurant,” he said before a packed crowd at Waukesha County Expo Center in July. “Then, I moved up to the big times and started flipping hamburgers in high school at McDonald’s to save up for college.”

“So, why do I focus so much attention on tax relief? Well, some of you know that Tonette, and I like to shop at Kohl’s. Over the years, I’ve learned that if I’m going to buy a new shirt, I go to the rack that says that the shirt was $29.99 but now is $19.99. Then, I take the coupon from the Sunday paper up to the cashier or I take out the flyer that we get in the mail that gives us 15 [percent] or 20 percent off, or even 30 percent if we are really lucky.”

Walker has responded to questions about his personal financial struggles, saying his debt shows he has firsthand experience with what many Americans are going through.



Clockwise: The Walkers’ four-bedroom home outside Milwaukee, which they bought in 2007; the governor’s mansion in Madison, Wis.; and Scott Walker campaigning in West Des Moines, Iowa, in May 2015. | http://urbanmilwaukee.com, Flickr, Getty Images