[24] Walker received the endorsements of Wisconsin Right to Life and The Milwaukee Sentinel, which called him a fiscal conservative and noted his anti-abortion, tough-on-crime, and pro-welfare reform positions.

[34][35] Walker claimed that Witch's hiring as a prison chaplain raised "both personal and political concerns" because she "practice[d] a religion that actually offends people of many other faiths".

[6] Walker appointed Kevin Kavanaugh, treasurer of the local chapter of the Military Order of the Purple Heart, as a member of the County Veterans Service Commission.

[45][46] Tim Russell, employed by Walker in a number of posts, was implicated in the same investigation; he was charged in January 2012 and pleaded guilty in November 2012 to diverting more than $21,000 to his personal bank account.

[92][93] By January 25, 2011, the state legislature passed a series of Walker-backed bills, the largest of which would cut taxes for businesses at "a two-year cost of $67 million", according to the Associated Press.

Walker said he was not pursuing right-to-work legislation and that in his 2011 comment to Hendricks he was referring to his responsibility as governor to defend taxpayers from unions that he believed were frustrating resolution of the state's budget deficit.

[111] In a media interview a week later, Walker said he was not trying to break the public sector unions, noting that Wisconsin government employees would retain the protections of civil service laws.

[113] During the sixth day of the protests, leaders of the two largest unions said publicly they were prepared to accept the financial concessions in the bill, but would not agree to the limitations of collective bargaining rights.

[119][120] After failing to reach a compromise with Democratic legislators, the Republican-led Senate removed certain fiscal provisions from the bill, allowing it to be passed without the usual quorum requirement.

"[132] As part of the cost savings resulting from the changes to collective bargaining, Walker pointed to significant reductions in the premiums for health insurance for many school districts.

Prior to the deficit reduction bill, WEA Trust, which is affiliated with Wisconsin's largest teachers union, dominated the market for health insurance for the state's school districts.

It included a plan to borrow $1.3 billion to fund improvements to roads and infrastructure, and proposed drug testing for recipients of public benefits like Medicaid and food stamps.

[153] In January 2012, Walker returned a $37.6 million federal grant meant to set up a health exchange in Wisconsin for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

[159] The budget proposal also called for re-writing the Wisconsin Idea, replacing the university's fundamental commitment to the "search for truth" with the goal of workforce readiness.

[162] Section 20(b)(1)(A) of the Indian Gaming Regulatory Act (IGRA) gives governors unrestricted authority to approve or veto any off-reservation tribal casino located in their state.

[165] In 2016, Walker signed legislation creating a pair of pilot programs to test alternative-care delivery and payment models for Medicaid recipients who have significant or chronic mental illness.

"[170] In June 2016, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled on Whole Woman's Health v. Hellerstedt, and struck down admitting privileges and other similar restrictions, finding that they were an unconstitutional "undue burden" on women.

[190][184] Walker and the Trump administration rolled back air pollution limits in the area of the plant, overruling objections of Environmental Protection Agency staff.

[185] Shortly after losing his re-election bid in 2018, Walker expressed support for a proposal by Wisconsin Republicans to curb the powers of the incoming Democratic administration during the lame-duck session.

It was a post-election bombshell... A third factor was a systematic project by the governor and GOP lawmakers to make it more difficult for Democrats to win elections or exercise power by tilting the political playing field.

[206] As of August 18, 2015, Crowdpac ranked Walker as the fourth-most conservative candidate (following Rand Paul, Ted Cruz and Ben Carson) for the 2016 presidential election based on an analysis of campaign donors.

[208] Walker, who started his campaign as a top-tier candidate after what was considered a "break-out" event at the Iowa Freedom Caucus in January, saw his position gradually decline over the summer in 2015.

[215] Once considered a front-runner for the Republican nomination, Walker's campaign suffered from two lackluster debate performances, low fundraising and an inability to raise his profile among the 16 other GOP contenders.

"[227] In a TV ad during his 2014 campaign for re-election Walker identified as anti-abortion, and pointed to legislation he signed that leaves "the final decision to a woman and her doctor".

[199] In July 2015, Walker signed a state law banning abortion after 20 weeks, including in cases of rape or incest but excluding when immediate danger existed to the life of the mother.

[236] In 2012, Walker instituted a program to encourage dairy farmers to dramatically increase production, which resulted in a supply glut and years of depressed prices.

[242] In 2015, Walker stated in an interview with Charlie Sykes that if elected president, he would "absolutely" decide on his first day in office to "cancel any Iranian deal the Obama administration makes," even if European allies which were also party to an agreement opted not to reimpose sanctions.

[243] In 2015, while campaigning for the Republican presidential nomination, Walker faulted Obama for lack of strategy in dealing with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group,[242] and did not rule out sending U.S. troops to Syria to engage in ground combat with ISIL there.

"[263][264] Walker has stated that he would work to "protect American workers" by aligning his position with Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-AL), who wrote in a Washington Post op-ed that legal immigration needs to be "slowed".

[282] In 2013, Walker published Unintimidated – A Governor's Story and A Nation's Challenge, co-written with Marc Thiessen, about his experiences during the recall vote and subsequent election, both of which he won.