Walker Launches 5-Day Bus Tour Across Wisconsin Ahead Of Primary

At the Maynard Steel Casting Co. in Milwaukee on Thursday, Gov. Scott Walker touted the state’s low unemployment.

“We’ve had five consecutive months of sub 3 percent unemployment. That’s never happened before,” he said to applause from a crowd of more than two dozen supporters. “We’re literally working.”

Walker touted his funding of public schools and his tuition freeze at the University of Wisconsin System.

“And still have enough left over to cut your taxes in this state by more than $8 billion helping working families, small businesses, senior citizens, family farmers and others,” he said. “And we’re going to keep doing it.”

Walker told the crowd — the first of many he’ll speak to on his five-day, more than 20-city bus tour across the state — that Wisconsin is working forward.

Walker spoke of what he wants to do if re-elected, which includes training Wisconsin’s workforce and attracting millennials to the state. He also slammed some of the Democrats hoping to face him in November on their prison reform stances.

“As long as I’m the governor of the great state of Wisconsin, I will make sure that we do not release violent criminals any time before the end of their sentence to make sure that everyone is safe in the state of Wisconsin,” he said.

Some Democratic gubernatorial candidates have supported cutting Wisconsin’s inmate population by half. But according to 2017 Wisconsin Department of Corrections data, 67 percent of inmates have committed a violent offense.

Walker called out state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Evers and former state Rep. Kelda Roys by name, saying halving the state’s prison population would require releasing thousands of violent offenders.

But just this week, Democrats — including Evers and Roys — lambasted the governor for refusing to visit state prisons.

Overall, the Maynard stop proved a friendly space in a city where residents and politicians are often critical of the governor — only one protestor showed up wearing a fox costume, speaking against the subsidies being given to Taiwanese manufacturer Foxconn Technology Group.

David Knapp works at the steel yard and said he’s supported Walker throughout his political career. Knapp said he was happy about the visit, as well as with Walker’s investments in public schools and higher education.

If Walker is re-elected, Knapp said he hopes the governor will continue to tackle the worker shortage in manufacturing.

“All the people in manufacturing are running into the same problem,” Knapp said. “We could double in size if we could find qualified people right now.”

But for Tracy Wilder, another Maynard employee, Walker’s visit wasn’t enough to get his vote.

“Am I happy about his visit? Hey, the man is a person like everybody else, he’s more than welcome,” Wilder said. “But am I happy about how the system works in Wisconsin? Hell no.”

In response to the kick off for Walker’s bus tour, Democratic Party of Wisconsin spokesman TJ Helmstetter told WPR:

“Walker is campaigning like a very desperate politician right now. He knows he’s reaching the end of his 25 year political career, and he’s doing everything he can to hold on. Despite millions of dollars worth of glossy TV ads, Walker’s poll numbers are still in the tank. That’s because voters are tired of Walker, and that’s why he’s desperate to change the conversation to anything other than his eight years of failure. Voters want a governor who will invest in roads, schools, and healthcare instead of giving away $4.5 billion to a foreign corporation.”