Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is locked in a tight race for re-election, and he is now asking the national Republican Party for a lifeline.
Recent polls showed the five-point lead Walker had over Democratic challenger Mary Burke has been erased, and the pair is now
in a dead heat as the two candidates enter the homestretch ahead of next Tuesday's election.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who chairs the Republican Governors Association (RGA), will swing through Wisconsin this week to pledge his support.
"[Christie] is coming because he asked if he could come and we weren't going to say no," Walker said
in a Politico report. "But we're not looking for surrogates. The people that have been campaigning with me are by and large from Wisconsin."
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Walker said he is getting outspent in TV ads, a part of his campaign where he said the RGA could have helped.
The support Walker has received from out of state "pales in comparison" to what Burke has gotten, he said in the Politico story.
"I'm hopeful that, just as they have in the past, at least some of the national governors associations have come in and helped," Walker said. "We can't coordinate [spending with outside groups] in this state, so we have to see it once it’s up on the air. But they did in 2010 and 2012 and I’m hopeful — I believe they will again this time."
Walker's claims were refuted by RGA communications director Gail Gitcho, who told Politico the association "has been all-in in Wisconsin from the beginning. Gov. Walker is an excellent governor, and we're going to do everything we can to help get him across the finish line."
Politico reports the RGA will have spent $8 million on Walker's campaign when it's over, including $2 million this week. Walker received just over $5 million, according to Politico, from the RGA during his 2010 campaign.
Walker's name has been thrown around in discussions about who will
run for president in 2016.