Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, one of the rising stars of the Republican Party, has been selected as a speaker for the Republican National Convention. This will grant him the possibility to consolidate himself, along with Rick Santorum, as one of the nation’s conservative stars.

The Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus, who was the former Republican Chairman of Wisconsin, announced during an episode of the Fox News channel program “On the Record with Greta Van Susteren”  that Scott Walker would have a very “prominent role” during the Convention.

Walker is the son of pastor, and grew up in a small Wisconsin town. He attended Marquette University in Milwaukee, and while still in school he worked for IBM. He left school his senior year to work with the American Red Cross.

His political career started in 1993 when he was elected to the State Assembly. In 2002 he was elected for the Milwaukee County Executive, where he spent eight years. During this time he was able to reduce the county’s debt by 30 percent.  He also reduced the county’s workforce by more than 25 percent, and was the author of nine consecutive budgets without raising the property tax levy from the previous year. Milwaukee was one of the counties in the nation that recorded a budget surplus.

On January 3, 2011 Walker became Wisconsin’s 45th governor. During his time in office he has done reforms that have eliminated the state’s $3.6 billion budget deficit without raising taxes. Governor Walker also intends to create 250,000 jobs by 2015. His plan to reduce budget deficit also included drastic measures: like making state workers pay more for health insurance and making payment of union dues voluntary. Because of this Democrats and unions came together to gather nearly 1 million signatures to force a recall election.

But in June, Governor Walker survived the recall election, becoming the first governor in the U.S. history that has survived a recall attempt.With his crucial victory against Democratic Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, Walker won the right to finish his term, and also proved he had the  support of the voters to fulfill his plan to curb state spending.

His victory on the recall election was easy, and the Republicans saw in him a great leader supported by many in his effort to rein in government spending, so he has been given a protagonist role in the convention.

Walker recently expressed his support and the importance of the Tampa Convention, he stated: “We have seen the power of bold ideas right here in Wisconsin. The American people are demanding bold reform and we need to put a leader in the White House who will fight to turn our country around. The Republican National Convention will be an important rallying point for our country and our party and I look forward to sharing our story of reform and officially nominating Mitt Romney as the next president of the United States.”

Image Courtesy of  Gateway Technical College

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About the author

Gerardo Jose Torres Montalvo
Student of Philosophy and Journalism in Universidad de Navarra, Spain. Interested in world politics, especially in Latin American issue and in political philosophy. I was born in the United States, but raised in El Salvador.

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