Walker Beefs Up Campaign Staff Weeks Before Election

Gov. Scott Walker is bolstering his campaign staff with the election just over five weeks away and polls showing him trailing Democrat Tony Evers.

State Medicaid director Heather Smith is leaving her job to work on messaging for the Walker campaign and to prepare him for two debates in October.

Smith is a longtime campaign veteran, having served as a senior adviser on Walker’s 2014 re-election team and working as the research director on his 2016 presidential bid. She previously served as a Walker deputy chief of staff.

Walker is also adding Ben Voelkel, a spokesman for Republican U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, as a communications adviser and Kirsten Reader as policy director. Reader had been a top official at the Wisconsin Department of Safety and Professional Services.

The additions bring Walker’s campaign staff to 16.