GOP primaries

Walker cancels speeches to focus on Iowa, South Carolina

Republican White House hopeful and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is shifting his focus next week to South Carolina and Iowa, cancelling planned speeches in Michigan and California.

The move is likely an attempt to regain momentum in early primary states as Walker’s poll numbers slip into the single digits.

{mosads}He was once considered a likely front-runner with a good shot at winning the Iowa caucuses, but a recent Quinnipiac University poll showed just 3 percent of likely Iowa caucus-goers supporting Walker.

The Los Angeles Times reported that Walker canceled an upcoming keynote address at the California Republican Party’s fall convention in Anaheim, scheduled for next Saturday.

A campaign spokeswoman also told The Washington Post that the presidential candidate had scrapped expected remarks at the Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference, set for Friday night.

The spokeswoman, Kirsten Kukowski, said the governor would spend his time in Iowa and South Carolina instead.

A RealClearPolitics polling average shows Walker in seventh place nationally in the GOP primary, with 4.8 percent support. Walker was in first place overall in that same polling average as recently as March.