Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, pivoting from his bigger-than-expected reelection win this month, is taking active steps toward a presidential campaign that would launch next summer and contrast his record of conservative achievements in a swing state with paralysis in Washington.

In interviews this week, Walker and his top political advisers provided the fullest account yet of his plans for the likely rollout of a national campaign. The 47-year-old Republican intends to use an upcoming legislative session in Wisconsin to push an ambitious agenda that could, in combination with his triumphs over Big Labor, bolster his standing with Republican primary voters: repealing unpopular Common Core standards, requiring drug tests for welfare beneficiaries and cutting property taxes.


“I think there’s going to be a hunger for a leader who can actually can get things done,” Walker said by phone Wednesday, even as he cautioned that he hasn’t firmly decided to run. “The closer I’ve gotten to this position, the more I’ve realized that anyone who really wants to be president has to be a little crazy … The only way you should run is if you feel called to.”

But it’s clear he and his aides are already discussing details of when a campaign would get underway and what it would look like.

They said it would be headquartered near the state capital of Madison. And Walker has asked a cadre of aides from his reelection campaign to stay on board for a potential 2016 bid, including senior advisers Keith Gilkes, Stephan Thompson and R.J. Johnson.

Walker is crafting a budget that he intends to be a blueprint for conservative governance. He will unveil it in late January, and the final version would go into effect on July 1 — after a spring legislative session.

“Any (presidential decision) that would come officially would have to come after that,” Walker said. “That could be midsummer. I want to fulfill those obviously important responsibilities.”

“Rick Perry got in too late” in the 2012 election cycle, a senior Walker adviser added. “Tim Pawlenty got in too early. So it’s all about figuring out what’s just right.”

Walker currently lacks people on his payroll who have extensive experience in the early 2016 states, and the governor, who historically has relied on a tight-knit circle of loyalists, knows he needs to bulk up his political staff. Reams of résumés are pouring in from potential consultants, aides say.

“We went from, when I was county executive, Walker 1.0, to governor, Walker 2.0,” the governor said. “If this was even ever realistic, we’d have to build a 3.0 right off the bat. You want to keep widening the circle.”

Among the masterminds of a 2016 bid are Gilkes, who was Walker’s first chief of staff and later led the successful campaign to defeat a 2012 recall effort; Thompson, the campaign manager of his recent reelection; Johnson, the general consultant on Walker’s 2010 race who has long experience running the state party in Wisconsin (as well as Florida’s); and Mike Grebe, Walker’s campaign chairman this year who has run the Milwaukee-based Bradley Foundation.

Walker is also expected to keep his digital director Matt Oczkowski, finance director Colleen Coyle and communications director Tom Evenson. Joe Fadness, who remains executive director of the Wisconsin GOP, helped orchestrate the field program. Aides say Walker is likely to retain the Tarrance Group as his pollster.

For much of the year it looked like Walker’s political career might end in November. Polls showed the state evenly divided between him and Democrat Mary Burke, a former state commerce secretary who spent $5 million of her fortune. Instead, Walker won by 6 points, his third statewide victory in four years.

Walker cut income and property taxes in the first term, but he wants to go further, pushing a flatter income tax system. On education, he’s planning to push an expansion of school choice and to replace the Common Core program with state standards. His plan to require welfare beneficiaries to undergo drug testing, he said, is about showing employers that people on public assistance are capable of holding jobs.

“We want to help able-bodied adults transition from government dependence into the workplace,” Walker said, whose efforts will be aided by a state Legislature controlled by Republicans.

For the next few months, political travel will be relatively limited, aides say, as Walker focuses on his legislative agenda. He appears eager to paint a contrast with not only a gridlocked Washington but also New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who faces a hostile Democratic Legislature and has fewer legislative accomplishments to point to.

As for his path to the nomination, Walker has many things going for him: He’s the son of a Baptist minister who spent part of his childhood in neighboring Iowa, the caucus kickoff state. His staunch opposition to abortion has further boosted his popularity among social conservatives. And his admirers see him as a Harley-riding, Miller-drinking guy who scores high on the “Would you want to have a beer with him?” test.

But Walker lacks the charisma that other likely candidates, such as Christie or Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), possess on the stump. He did not graduate from college, though some blue-collar voters might see this as a positive, and lacks foreign policy experience.

There’s also the so-called John Doe investigation by a special prosecutor into coordination between Walker’s campaign advisers and conservative outside groups who spent on his behalf during the recall. Walker strongly denies wrongdoing, and a federal judge halted the investigation this spring. Documents related to the appeal of that decision continued to trickle out during this year’s race, but it ultimately was a nonfactor in the election.

Walker has also cultivated an impressive national fundraising network. He raised more than $25 million for this year’s campaign and raised an additional $30 million for the 2012 recall. Walker hasn’t asked for firm commitments from donors for 2016, but he has built relationships during semi-regular trips to New York City the past few years. During the most recent campaign, a little under half his money — $11 million — came from outside the state.

His successful battle against unions has helped him amass a national email list of small donors.

The high-profile 2012 recall race “was singularly a national election,” said another of Walker’s top advisers. “It’s almost, in essence, like you had a mini-presidential.”