ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Likely GOP presidential candidate Scott Walker hopped across the border Thursday to mingle with Minnesota Republicans and while there discounted suggestions that Wisconsin's economy has performed worse in his time as governor than its Democratic-led neighbor.
Walker's closed-door session with legislators - and later gatherings with top business leaders and a conservative group - come as he nears an announcement on a White House campaign after taking several preliminary steps toward a bid, including hiring staff and taking repeated trips to states with early primaries. He said a formal decision would come once Wisconsin lawmakers set a new budget, probably in early June.
His economic stewardship of Wisconsin is certain to draw attention if he runs. Walker maintained that his state has made significant gains since he took office and insisted that any unfavorable comparison to Minnesota's performance required context.
"You've had the advantage of other than a two-year period of having Republicans in charge of at least one part of government for some time. Before we came into office for many years, there was a Democrat governor, a Democrat assembly and a Democrat Senate," Walker said, noting the state's peak 9.2 percent unemployment rate before his election in 2010 and its 4.6 percent standing now. Nationally, the unemployment rate was above 9 percent throughout 2010 and has fallen to 5.5 percent now.
"You look at where we were at, where we started and where we're at today there has been a dramatic change," he told reporters following his meeting with GOP lawmakers.
Minnesota's jobless rate has consistently been lower than Wisconsin's and never climbed as high during the Great Recession. Minnesota's unemployment rate has tumbled from above 7 percent at Gov. Mark Dayton's first election in 2010 to 3.7 percent now.
Wisconsin has trailed the national average in private-sector job growth since six months after Walker took office. He fell short of a signature campaign promise to create 250,000 private-sector jobs, although 145,000 new positions appeared, and Wisconsin ranked 40th nationwide in private-sector job growth in the 12-month period ending in September.
As he tours the country, Walker has boasted that new businesses are starting up in Wisconsin at a higher rate than the rest of the country and that income growth for residents exceeds the national average.
Dayton, a supporter of former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, offered a polite "Welcome to Minnesota" to Walker and said he should come back as often as he likes.
"I'm not going to engage in presidential politics at this point," Dayton said.
Minnesota House Speaker Kurt Daudt, who hadn't met Walker previously, said the governor didn't ask for him or other legislators to formally back his potential campaign.
"I haven't made a decision of who I support," Daudt said. "I think it's great that he's running. I think he's got a great opportunity should he decide to get in."
Walker's closed-door session with legislators - and later gatherings with top business leaders and a conservative group - come as he nears an announcement on a White House campaign after taking several preliminary steps toward a bid, including hiring staff and taking repeated trips to states with early primaries. He said a formal decision would come once Wisconsin lawmakers set a new budget, probably in early June.
His economic stewardship of Wisconsin is certain to draw attention if he runs. Walker maintained that his state has made significant gains since he took office and insisted that any unfavorable comparison to Minnesota's performance required context.
"You've had the advantage of other than a two-year period of having Republicans in charge of at least one part of government for some time. Before we came into office for many years, there was a Democrat governor, a Democrat assembly and a Democrat Senate," Walker said, noting the state's peak 9.2 percent unemployment rate before his election in 2010 and its 4.6 percent standing now. Nationally, the unemployment rate was above 9 percent throughout 2010 and has fallen to 5.5 percent now.
"You look at where we were at, where we started and where we're at today there has been a dramatic change," he told reporters following his meeting with GOP lawmakers.
Minnesota's jobless rate has consistently been lower than Wisconsin's and never climbed as high during the Great Recession. Minnesota's unemployment rate has tumbled from above 7 percent at Gov. Mark Dayton's first election in 2010 to 3.7 percent now.
Wisconsin has trailed the national average in private-sector job growth since six months after Walker took office. He fell short of a signature campaign promise to create 250,000 private-sector jobs, although 145,000 new positions appeared, and Wisconsin ranked 40th nationwide in private-sector job growth in the 12-month period ending in September.
As he tours the country, Walker has boasted that new businesses are starting up in Wisconsin at a higher rate than the rest of the country and that income growth for residents exceeds the national average.
Dayton, a supporter of former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, offered a polite "Welcome to Minnesota" to Walker and said he should come back as often as he likes.
"I'm not going to engage in presidential politics at this point," Dayton said.
Minnesota House Speaker Kurt Daudt, who hadn't met Walker previously, said the governor didn't ask for him or other legislators to formally back his potential campaign.
"I haven't made a decision of who I support," Daudt said. "I think it's great that he's running. I think he's got a great opportunity should he decide to get in."