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Walker faces 'mounting criticism' from his own former cabinet members

As he seeks a third term in Wisconsin, Gov. Scott Walker (R) is confronting "mounting criticism" from former members of his own cabinet.
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker speaks at the American Action Forum, Jan. 30, 2015 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty)
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker speaks at the American Action Forum, Jan. 30, 2015 in Washington, DC. 

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) is running for a third term, which isn't proving to be especially easy. Despite an overwhelming financial advantage, some recent polling shows the incumbent trailing state schools Superintendent Tony Evers (D), who last week won a competitive Democratic gubernatorial primary.

But complicating matters for the governor, the Associated Press reported that Walker is confronting "mounting criticism" from former members of his own cabinet.

A second former top official with Gov. Scott Walker's administration has endorsed his Democratic opponent and cut a video criticizing the Republican incumbent.The latest online ad, released Monday, features former Department of Financial Institutions Secretary Peter Bildsten blasting Walker as only caring about pleasing donors and calling for administration officials to dodge the open records law.

The trouble started with former Corrections Secretary Ed Wall, who was also on Walker's team, and who recently said he saw widespread mismanagement and lax ethics in the governor's administration. Now it's Bildsten who's alleging that the Republican governor's team "told him to meet with payday loan lobbyists and discouraged him from creating documents that could be turned up under the state's open records law," according to a report in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

Both former members of Walker's cabinet have announced their support for his Democratic opponent.

Of course, the news isn't all bad for the Wisconsin governor: the Kochs apparently still like him.

A conservative advocacy group funded by the billionaire Koch brothers is launching a $1.8 million ad buy for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.Americans for Prosperity-Wisconsin announced the TV, cable and digital ad buy on Tuesday. It's the latest in a series of seven-figure ad buys in the race that pits the Republican Walker against the state schools chief, Democrat Tony Evers.

The latest polling shows Evers' lead at roughly five points. Watch this space.