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<p>CNN)Billionaire businessman and powerful Republican donor David Koch wants Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker to be the next president but doesn't plan to financially back anyone during the primaries.</p> <p>Koch made the comments Monday at a private gathering hosted by the New York State Republican Party at the Union League Club in Manhattan. They were described to CNN by two attendees who were in the room.</p>

The new front-runner for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination is Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.He takes the top slot on The Chase – U.S. News' Run 2016 rankings of the four candidates most likely to end up as his or her party's nominee – for the first time, after establishing polling leads in each of the three early nominating states.Jeb Bush has held the top slot since the beginning of the year, and the former Florida governor remains the first choice of national Republicans, according to a new CNN survey released Monday.But the race for the nomination starts in early states,...

"...Walker expanded the stump speech he had given in Iowa back in January, a coming out party of sorts, that propelled him to co-frontrunner status in national and early-state polling. The new content made clear that Walker is a hawk and that in a Walker presidency the United States would not only reengage with the world but would project its power without reservation. He called the war on radical Islam and “generational” war and scorched Barack Obama for his ambivalence on the threat. “We’re going to bring the fight to them and fight on their soil and not ours." Walker’s...

There are not many people who once fought on the same side as Fidel Castro and are now heroes to American social conservatives. But that is exactly the trajectory taken by Rafael Cruz, father of 2016 presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas). The elder Cruz now regrets his fight on the side of the pro-Castro rebels in his native Cuba, ascribing it to dislike of Castro’s arch-enemy, U.S.-backed President Fulgencio Batista, rather than any sympathy for Communism. Rafael has travelled a complicated path in the United States, encompassing two divorces, business reversals and a second career as a preacher. But...

Republicans are most enthusiastic about the prospects of nominating Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker for president, a new HuffPost/YouGov poll finds, but they're open to rallying around a number of potential candidates--with the possible exception of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.Members of the party are generally optimistic that whoever emerges from the crowded field of prospects will succeed. Three-quarters of Republicans predict their party will win back the presidency next year, and most look favorably on several of the politicians fighting for the nomination.Walker generated the most excitement of the six candidates tested, with 45 percent saying they'd be enthusiastic to...

With just two of a dozen or more presidential candidates having declared their intention to run for office, South Carolina’s tea partyers are already lining up behind Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. In the latest Winthrop Poll released Wednesday, Walker and Texas Senator Tex Cruz were in a statistical tie among the 1,000 or so likekly GOP voters polled. But poll director Scott Huffmon says support between mainstream republicans and Tea Party backers may be split — at least for now “The Tea Party Likes Scott Walker to the tune of people who approve of the Tea Party picked Scott Walker...

As the Republican presidential candidates gather this weekend in New Hampshire, they’re all chasing a midwestern governor. The latest survey of New Hampshire Republicans, by liberal-leaning Public Policy Polling, finds Wisconsin’s Scott Walker with a strong lead at 24 percent, followed by a rising Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. Establishment favorite Jeb Bush is currently mired in fourth place, with 10 percent support, a drop from the last PPP poll of the first-in-the-nation primary state. Other polls show the race remains tight. The RealClearPolitics average has Walker at 19 percent, followed by Bush at 15 percent and Sen. Rand Paul at...

It's early days, and a few people who will likely be running haven't formally announced yet. But I think it's worth looking at Republican contenders for the White House and giving you my initial impressions. I'll be looking at Democrats in a subsequent article. Senator Ted Cruz was the first to announce, and of course caught an initial blast from the Left's media hacks. We certainly can't dignify them with the term 'journalist since so many of them are simply Leftist activists with access to a microphone or a byline. Expect them to ignore blatant violations of law by the...

Illustration by Sarah Rodgers/ The Daily BeastWhile the rest of the GOP field plays nice, Scott Walker is very much on the attack—and he’s not making many friends in the process. In the waning days of the 2014 elections, Chris Christie arrived in Ohio to campaign for his fellow Republican John Kasich. At a rally for over 700 people in the town of Independence, the Ohio governor said of his New Jersey counterpart that, “among all the governors, he’s my best friend.” The audience let out a collective “awww.” The two were shown the next day on the front of...

NASHUA, N.H. (AP) - Nearly 20 Republican White House prospects will court presidential primary voters in New Hampshire this weekend at a state GOP meeting in Nashua. It's the first gathering of its kind in the first-in-the-nation primary state this year and offers no shortage of intriguing storylines as Republican contenders across the political spectrum deliver speeches, answer questions and work to stand out in the crowd. Five things we'll be watching for: [SNIP] Debbie Wasserman Schultz, chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, will be in New Hampshire as well to make sure Republicans don't get a free pass. [SNIP]

MILWAUKEE —A new Marquette University Law School poll finds Hillary Clinton leading a possible presidential matchup against Gov. Scott Walker. However, Walker leads Republicans in the presidential race. Forty percent support a Walker run while 10 percent favor Rand Paul, 8 percent for Jeb Bush, and 6 percent each for Chris Christie and Ted Cruz. The poll finds that among Wisconsin voters, Clinton leads Walker 52 percent to 40 percent. The poll also showed that Walker's approval rating in the state has slipped. The most recent poll showed a 41 percent approval rating, compared to 49 percent in October. Looking...

Gov. Scott Walker's likely 2016 presidential campaign got a boost Thursday when two of his longtime campaign managers formed a political group that can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money, The Associated Press reports. They are calling the group Unintimidated PAC, a reference to [Governor Scott] Walker's 2013 book, "Unintimidated: A Governor's Story and a Nation's Challenge." The AP reports that the super PAC will be led by Keith Gilkes, a longtime Walker aide who ran Walker's 2010 gubernatorial campaign and previously served as his chief of staff. Gilkes also ran Walker's successful 2012 recall election, which was triggered...

U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and five of their likely rivals for the Republican presidential nomination including Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker will be speaking at an economic summit hosted at Walt Disney World in June by Gov. Rick Scott and his campaign fund Let's Get To Work. Brecht Heuchan of Let's Get To Work said Rubio, Bush, Walker, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Texas Gov. Rick Perry all have accepted invitations to speak at the June 2 summit at Disney's Yacht and Beach...

Marco Rubio announced his candidacy for president yesterday. He may be half of the makings of the 2016 GOP dream ticket. The Republicans have two big problems to solve if they hope to win the White House next time around. No, I am not talking about cracking the Latin American ancestry vote. It would be good for the party to do that, though probably more essential in the long run than right away. And there are questions about whether putting a Cuban-American on the ticket does that anyway. Cubans are already among the country’s highest turnout populations (67.2% in 2012,...

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush lead the Republican field in South Carolina’s early presidential primary landscape, with 13.6 percent and 12.7 percent, respectively, the spring Winthrop University poll shows. The rest of the pack trails with single digit support each, according to results released Wednesday morning...... ..... The survey was conducted April 4-12 and included 996 voters polled statewide.

Two weeks ago, I noticed that national polling and noted that the media-fueled boomlet for Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker might be fading. If that’s true, it’s a phenomenon that is not apparent in a recent poll of GOP primary voters in New Hampshire. The results of a new NH1 survey conducted by the Republican firm Reach Communications from April 8 – 9 suggests that Walker’s appeal to the Republican electorate in this critical Northeaster state continues to grow. The survey found Walker leading with almost 23 percent of the vote, well outside the survey’s 3.0 percent margin of error. Former...

USA Today can't be linked - So, I've provided the link to the Suffolk website (hope that's ok with FR)- In short, 1000 adults, with the following results- "In an open-ended question to Republican voters, 9 percent named Scott Walker followed by Jeb Bush (8 percent), Ted Cruz (7 percent), Rand Paul (5 percent), Ben Carson (4 percent), Marco Rubio (2 percent), while eight other possible candidates received 1 percent or less."

[At the source, the rational is given after each candidate] The first tier 1. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) (Sen. – FL) (Last month: 3) (Points: 91) 2. Scott Walker (Gov. – Wisconsin) (Last month: 1) (Points: 88) 3. Jeb Bush (Fmr. Gov. – FL) (Last Month: 3) (Points: 81) The Second Tier 4. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) (Senator – TX) (Last Month: 4) (Points: 73) 5. Bobby Jindal (Gov. – LA) (Last month: 5) (Points: 54) 6. Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)(Sen. – KY) (Last month: 8) (Points: 52) The Third Tier 7. Rick Perry (Fmr. Gov. – TX) (Last month:...

SOURCE Emerson College Polling Society BOSTON, April 14, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A new poll conducted in California by the Emerson College Polling Society (ECPS) suggests that the perennially blue state, which has not been won by a Republican presidential candidate since 1988, may be in play for the 2016 election. Hillary Clinton holds a commanding 46-point lead over Senator Elizabeth Warren, her nearest potential rival for the Democratic nomination. However, in head-to-head matchups with the top two GOP contenders, Jeb Bush and Scott Walker, Clinton's 53% to 47% edge is within the poll's margin of error of +/- 3.2%. California...

PHOENIX -- An Arizona legislator said she's formally exploring a possible primary challenge to Sen. John McCain, a fellow Republican and five-term incumbent. State Sen. Kelli Ward said in Monday's announcement that she wanted to provide a "new, positive, principled voice for Arizona in Washington" and that she's received strong encouragement to run in 2016.