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What Gov. Walker's Victory Means For His Political Future

Darren Hauck/Getty Images

Scott Walker was elected to another four-year term as Wisconsin governor yesterday, beating back a challenge from Trek bicycle executive Mary Burke.  

Polls had showed Walker with a narrow lead in recent weeks, and his margin of victory turned out to be about five percent.

Other wins for Republicans included a relatively easy victory for Brad Schimel over Democrat Susan Happ to win the Attorney General seat and Glenn Grothman defeating Mark Harris to win the race for U.S. Congress in District 6.

Lake Effect's post-election panel includes Marquette University political science professor Julia Azari, Urban Milwaukee editor Bruce Murphy and Wispolitics.com's JR Ross.

Each guest breaks down the results from yesterday's election and comments on Scott Walker's political future:

"Really this was about Walker running against himself hoping that the people who loved him would be more than the people who hated him, and in a way it was just a rerun of the recall election," Bruce Murphy says.

"If you take a big picture view of this race, I heard a regular complaint from Republicans that Governor Walker was running a 'prevent defense.' He knew he was up by five points, and all he did was prevent Mary Burke from scoring a touchdown. People kind of complained, at least Republicans, that he wasn't very aggressive, he wasn't doing more bold stuff, but in the end if you look at it, it worked," JR Ross says.

"The bigger picture of the Republican party is important here. Walker checks a lot of boxes for Republicans. He has economic and socially conservative credentials, but doesn't really put off any one of the major wings of the party. I think the big question...is whether he has these kinds of intangible presidential qualities, and that's what we'll see in the next couple of years," Julia Azari says.

Audrey is a WUWM host and producer for Lake Effect.