Scott Walker’s campaign baffles Wisconsin voters who mistake him for more famous namesake

PLATTEVILLE, Wis. (AP) — Scott Walker loves unions, thinks women should have the right to an abortion and wants to expand health care coverage.

If you’re confused, get in line.

This Scott Walker isn’t the former Wisconsin governor whose battles with teachers and other public unions made him one of the most polarizing political figures in the battleground state’s recent history. That was Scott Kevin Walker. This is Scott Abbot Walker, a Democratic country doctor running for the state Legislature.

“Sometimes you get people who are openly hostile,” Walker said of voter reactions when he introduces himself. “Sometimes they’re closing the door as I say my name because they’re unhappy.”

Walker is running against 14-year Republican incumbent Travis Tranel in the 49th Assembly District, which covers a swath of rolling farm country across Grant and Crawford counties in Wisconsin’s far southwestern corner. The district’s largest municipality is Platteville, a city of about 11,000 people whose biggest claim to fame is a small state university.

Walker goes into November as a distinct underdog in the decidedly red district. Former President Donald Trump won it in both 2016 and 2020 and Tranel has held the Assembly seat since 2011.

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