Pro-Walker super-PAC launches

Former aides to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker announced Thursday they have formed a super-PAC to boost the Republican as he moves toward a 2016 presidential campaign. 

Dubbed Unintimidated PAC — an apparent nod to Walker’s 2013 book Unintimidated: A Governor’s Story and a Nation’s Challenge — the group will highlight Walker’s “strong record of reform and courageous leadership” in Wisconsin, according to a release. 

{mosads}The super-PAC will be capable of raising and spending unlimited amounts of money on Walker’s nascent presidential campaign and will be headed by Keith Gilkes, who managed Walker’s 2010 campaign and served as a senior adviser for the governor’s successful reelection last year. He was also the governor’s former chief of staff and managed his recall campaign after Walker clashed with public sector unions. 

Stephan Thompson, campaign manager for Walker’s reelection campaign last year and deputy campaign manager in 2010, will serve as the super-PAC’s deputy executive director. James McCray, a consultant who worked on finance for Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) 2008 presidential bid, will serve as its national finance director. 

Super-PACs cannot directly coordinate with campaigns, but have increasingly been used to boost certain candidates in recent elections. Earlier this year Walker also launched a leadership committee, Our American Revival, to raise large sums of money but not for other candidates. 

Walker has said he won’t announce a presidential bid until he signs his state’s budget, which could come in June. Should he launch a bid he’d join a likely crowded GOP field, with Sens. Ted Cruz (Texas), Rand Paul (Ky.) and Marco Rubio (Fla.) having already announced their bids. 

A pair of polls out this week show Walker leading the Republican field in two early voting states, including a double-digit lead in New Hampshire and slim lead in South Carolina.