Walker named "Governor of the Year" by Governors Journal



MADISON -- Gov. Scott Walker has been named "Governor of the Year" by Governors Journal.

As cited by Governors Journal, Gov. Walker "has dominated the political debate on both sides. Defining the issues. He is cited by both Democrats and Republicans as the best of example of what is wrong, or what is right with a conservative approach to government. Although they will never admit it, many Democratic governors are different from Walker only in a matter of degrees."

FOX6's Mike Lowe sat down for a one-on-one interview with Gov. Walker on Friday to look back on 2011 as a whole. "It certainly was surreal, no doubt about that. I certainly never would have dreamed about the kind of national attention, I just came in like a small business owner.  I saw a problem, tried to fix it," said Gov. Walker.

Lowe asked Gov. Walker what he saw as his high point of the year. Gov. Walker replied, "Certainly when I think about my two sons, Matt and Alex, I can look and say I tackled this budget crisis in a way that we'll pass on to them something at least as great if not greater than the state I inherited, I think is a positive."
Gov. Walker later answered a question about a misperception of him that he would like to see eradicated. Gov Walker said, "I think there are some who benefit from the misconception -- some meaning political opponents -- of polarizing or phrases like that are used.  (butt) I had a reporter from the other day from one of the public radio stations say I listened to the Feb. 11 and she said people would be surprised, but you said nice things about public employees when you announced your reforms."
The governor says it's too early to tell if he'll reach his campaign goal of helping to create 250,000 jobs in his first term.

For the record, a spokesperson for Governors Journal says "the selection of Governor of the Year is mostly subjective, but it is based primarily on which governor has had the most impact on the national debate. It's not the result of a state by state ranking of each governor."

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (D) was named first runner up and Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy (D) was given Honorable Mention.