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	Scott Walker waves to supporters with his wife Tonette, rear right, and son Matt after Walker defeated Jim Ryan in the election for Milwaukee County Executive. (AP Photo/The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Gary Porter)

Scott Walker Wins County Executive Race 

The candidate who promised to reduce the size of government will lead Milwaukee County for two years. Scott Walker won a special election April 30 for county executive. Walker won 55 percent of the vote. Jim Ryan received the rest of the vote.

Voters in Milwaukee and 18 suburbs gave Walker the votes needed to win. Walker beat Ryan in the suburbs by about 22,000 votes. Of the 181,000 votes cast in the election, about 88,000 came from the city of Milwaukee.

Ryan won the city of Milwaukee by about 4,000 votes. The unofficial vote count showed Walker received 99,850 votes. Ryan got 81,208 votes.

Ryan loses to Walker in his own village

Walker won all of the suburbs except Shorewood. Walker even carried Hales Corners by 50 votes. Ryan is village president of Hales Corners.

Both candidates said they expected fewer people would vote April 30 than in the April 2 primary. Walker finished first in the primary. Ryan was second. About 139,000 people voted in the primary. Four other candidates were eliminated in the primary.

The 181,000 votes in the general election were almost the same number of signatures that were collected in a recall campaign. Tom Ament resigned as county executive on February 26. Ament left office rather than face a recall election. People who organized the recall were upset with generous pensions that Ament and others in county government had planned to give themselves.

After his victory, Walker said the recall supporters were the major factor in the race. But he said his support came from all across the county. “Even in the central city, issues of reform were important,” Walker said. “The status quo wasn't good for them either.”

During the campaign, Walker said he wanted to reduce the number of county supervisors by about half. He also wanted to make their jobs part-time. Currently, the 25 supervisors are elected to full-time positions.

Will finish Ament’s four-year term

Walker will serve the rest of Ament's four-year term. Walker promised he would not serve beyond 2008. He also promised to cut his annual salary by $50,000. The job currently pays $128,820 a year. 

The election for county executive is non-partisan. That means the candidates do not run as members of political parties. However. Walker is a member of the Republican Party. Ryan, 58, said his politics were closer to that of Democrats.

Walker, 34, said he plans to resign from the state Legislature. He has served nine years in the Assembly. He lives in the suburb of Wauwatosa.

The county executive is in charge of 7,100 employees. The executive also manages an annual budget of about $1 billion. The duties of county government include such things as providing mental health services. It also provides help to the elderly and disabled.

The county operates civil and criminal courts. The county also operates the Sheriff's Department and the largest airport in Wisconsin.