MADISON, Wis. -- A day after becoming the country's first governor to win a recall election, a triumphant Scott Walker told his Cabinet Wednesday to put their energy into creating jobs and said he was taking steps to improve bipartisanship.

"We're going to spend the remainder of this term focused like a laser beam on creating jobs," he said to the Cabinet.

The Republican governor spent the first several minutes of the meeting going around the room to shake hands with and hugging members of his Cabinet, who welcomed him with nonstop applause.

"It's like going to a Badgers pep rally," a hoarse Walker said.

Walker, who defeated Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett in Tuesday's recall, was joined at the Cabinet meeting by Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, the only lieutenant governor in the nation's history to face -- and survive -- a recall election.

"The good news is we're back," Walker said. "The better news is we're back fully engaged, and as much as we've done good work, we're not done yet."

Walker won 53 percent to 46 percent, according to unofficial returns -- about a percentage point better than his margin in 2010, when he bested Barrett 52.25 percent to 46.5 percent.

"We're not gloating in the victory," Walker said. "We're moving on."

Incumbent Republicans won three Senate recalls, but appear to have narrowly lost a fourth race. If vote totals pan out as the unofficial tally shows, former state Sen. John Lehman will replace state Sen. Van Wanggaard later this month to represent the Racine area. That would give Democrats a 17-16 majority in the state Senate until at least January, when the winners of the November elections would take office.

Walker said he spoke Wednesday with Public Schools Superintendent Tony Evers; Assembly Minority Leader Peter Barca, D-Kenosha; and Senate Democratic Leader Mark Miller of Monona, who is expected to take over as majority leader once Tuesday's Senate recall races are certified.

Walker said the Democratic legislative leaders were open to working with him.

"It was really a good sense that people are eager to move on," he said.

In another effort to improve bipartisanship, Walker is planning a Wisconsin-style summit with lawmakers over brats and beer.

Joe Heim, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, said Walker might have to reach out, if only a little bit, to Democrats for the remainder of his term, if he wants to win re-election in 2014.

"Having brats and beer with Democrats are baby steps," Heim said.

Heim said he thinks Walker needs to be able to point to several pieces of major legislation, such as a mining bill passed with bipartisan support, to show he is trying to find consensus on some issues.

Earlier Wednesday, Walker toured an Oak Creek fabrication plant, Steelwind Industries, and said that it was one of many small businesses poised to grow now that the uncertainty of a recall election is behind the state and its voters.

Walker said he would work with Democratic and Republican lawmakers to improve the climate for jobs in the state. At the same time, Walker said there are several administrative steps he can take without a vote in the Legislature to make state regulations less burdensome for employers.

The Legislature is not slated to meet again until next year. A special or extraordinary session is possible before then, but less likely if Democrats control the Senate.

"A lot of things we are going to do don't require a change in state law," Walker said. "They aren't things we have to vote on. They are things we have to act on."

Walker said he expects employers to start hiring in the next several weeks now that they know the changes he has pursued in state policies over the past 17 months will not be sidelined by a different administration.

Meanwhile Wednesday, the state's largest public teachers union spent around $4 million on the recall, much of that on Kathleen Falk's failed bid for the Democratic nomination, something union leaders say they don't regret.

"We were all chips in because we had nothing to lose," said Dan Burkhalter, executive director of the Wisconsin Education Association Council, referring to efforts by the governor and Republican legislators to cut public school funding and all but end collective bargaining for most public employees.

WEAC President Mary Bell said the union supported Falk because she got into the recall race much earlier than Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett and for many weeks Walker "had the field to himself" and was able to run many ads touting his accomplishments.

The governor "had the bigger megaphone," Bell said in a meeting Wednesday afternoon with the Journal Sentinel's editors and reporters.

One day after Walker withstood the recall attempt, Bell and Burkhalter said they were unsure whether the governor will be open to discussing public education in the state.

"We have to find a better way to have a civil dialogue," said Bell.

Since the collective bargaining measure was enacted last year, WEAC's membership has dropped from around 90,000 to 70,000, but the remaining membership became energized by the recall and union leaders are hopeful that passion will continue as the union rallies around issues such as public school funding, the WEAC officials said. The union is working on membership drives this summer.

Burkhalter estimated 25 percent to 30 percent of WEAC members voted for Walker in 2010 while about 5 percent voted for the governor on Tuesday.

-- Patrick Marley and Meg Jones, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel