Walker announces: ‘I’m running for president’

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker officially threw his hat into a crowded Republican presidential field on Monday, declaring his 2016 White House bid in a tweet.

I'm in. I'm running for president because Americans deserve a leader who will fight and win for them. – SW http://t.co/DZG253QjfP #Walker16

— Scott Walker (@ScottWalker) July 13, 2015

Walker is the final top-tier candidate in the GOP field, with more than a dozen declared candidates. Ohio Gov. John Kasich and former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore are also expected to announce bids.

The Wisconsin governor, first elected in 2010, fended off a recall attempt in 2012 amid a fight over collective bargaining powers and sailed to reelection last year. In a video released Monday, Walker suggests he is the only GOP candidate who is proven on fighting for streamlining the government.

“America needs new, fresh leadership with big, bold ideas from outside of Washington to actually get things done,” Walker said in a video.

“In Wisconsin, we didn’t nibble around the edges. We enacted big, bold reforms that took power out of the hands of the big government special interests and gave it to the hard-working taxpayers, and people’s lives are better because of it,” Walker said.

“We fought and won. In the Republican field, there are some who are good fighters, but they haven’t won those battles,” he added.

Following his announcement Monday, Walker is heading to the early-voting states of Nevada, South Carolina and New Hampshire before starting an all-out blitz in Iowa.