As Chris Christie gets tangled in the cables over “Bridgegate,” another GOP governor’s star is rising.
Scott Walker of Wisconsin has the pedigree of a fiscal conservative, someone capable of balancing his state budget after limiting collective bargaining rights for public employees. The unions fought back with a recall petition. But Walker won his governorship - again.
Walker’s two-time win in Wisconsin could propel him to take a shot at the 2016 presidential election, which now seems wide open for the GOP.
Related: Chris Christie in a New Jam Over Bridgegate
Late Friday, former Christie associate David Wildstein claimed in a letter from his lawyer that Gov. Christie, contrary to the governor’s vehement claims in a press conference several weeks ago, knew of the George Washington Bridge lane closures in Fort Lee as they were occurring. Wildstein’s lawyer says he has evidence to prove these charges, though he has not yet produced it.
Christie acknowledges that he learned about the bridge lane closings as they were happening when the press reported on the massive traffic jam. But he denied any suggestion of prior knowledge.
No matter how this latest imbroglio ends up playing out for Christie, the door has opened for a spate of other 2016 presidential candidates, including Scott Walker. Currently up for reelection as governor in Wisconsin, Walker is leading his challenger, Mary Burke, by a 6-percent margin, 47 to 41, according to a new poll in his state.
Related: How Scott Walker Would Reform the GOP
Though Walker has the forward momentum, name recognition and other benefits of the incumbency, the Wisconsin horse race has really only begun and it’s too soon to predict its trajectory. But Walker – currently one of 30 Republican governors in the country – has some important bragging rights.
In 2010 he won the governorship by six percentage points and then went on to survive a tough recall election in 2012 by an even higher share of the vote – the first American governor in history to survive a recall attempt. That launched his national reputation, while his fiscal reforms and tough stance against collective bargaining rights to fix a $3.6 billion budget deficit further burnished his conservative Republican credentials.
Other prominent Republicans are also viewed as potential 2016 candidates, of course – among them Paul Ryan, Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, and John Kasich. In a recent Washington Post-ABC News poll, Ryan of Wisconsin – the House budget chairman and fellow Walker cheesehead – emerged as the top choice of Republicans and GOP-leaning independents for the 2016 nomination, with 20 percent, followed by Jeb Bush at 18 percent and Chris Christie at 13 percent.