Jason Arndt, jarndt@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader Photo by Jason Arndt U.S. Rep. Reid Ribble, right, introduces Gov. Scott Walker at a campaign stop at Cecil’s Dairy Cove on Saturday.
Republican Gov. Scott Walker said Saturday former President Bill Clinton’s visit to Milwaukee last week and President Barack Obama’s visit this week show Democrat Mary Burke’s priorities.
“They are sending a pretty clear message to the voters of this state. My opponent stands for special interests in Washington,” Walker said during a campaign stop in Cecil. “She is a candidate of the Washington special interests and the big government special interests.
“I am the candidate for the Wisconsin taxpayers, and as long as I am governor, I am going to continue to stand up against those special interests from Washington and protect the Wisconsin taxpayers.”
Walker told a crowd of about 50 people in Cecil at The Dairy Cove the presidential visits were a last-ditch effort by Burke, his opponent in the Nov. 4 election.
Walker accused the Burke campaign of targeting urban areas for their votes while ignoring rural counties in Wisconsin.
“I think it is pretty clear there is a reason why they are sending surrogates into Madison and Milwaukee, because they don’t think they will pick up any more votes across the state,” Walker said. “The only way they can win is if they run the score up.”
Supporters cheered when Walker touted recent job growth in Wisconsin and a reduction in unemployment rates.
He said Wisconsin was fourth among all 50 states in job growth from September 2013 through last month, including an additional 8,400 private sector jobs created in September.
“That’s the best September for private sector job growth in more than a decade, and we are at a 5 1/2 percent unemployment (rate),” he said. “That is the lowest unemployment rate we have seen since October of 2008.”
Walker and 8th Congressional District Republican representative Reid Ribble, who is facing a challenge from Democrat Ron Gruett in November, urged area residents to vote in the election.
“If we don’t get out and vote, those folks in Milwaukee and Madison are going to win this race,” Walker said.
The stop in Cecil was part of Walker’s 10-day “Continuing Wisconsin’s Comeback” bus tour leading up to the election. The tour started Saturday at the Republican Party of Milwaukee County headquarters in West Allis.