WAUKESHA — Gov. Scott Walker formally kicked off his long-anticipated campaign for the presidency Monday, promising to take nationwide his battles in Wisconsin fighting unions and other “big-government special interests.”

Walker also pledged to take the fight to those who threaten America’s safety around the globe and to stand up for the rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness, religious freedoms, and for the “healthy or sick, born or unborn.”

“Americans deserve a president who will fight and win for them,” Walker declared during a rally at the Waukesha County Expo Center. The line echoed a theme Walker, 47, has used recently to differentiate himself from other GOP contenders in an increasingly crowded field. Though Walker is now the 15th Republican to formally declare a run for the party’s presidential nomination, he has said some in the field have been good fighters but haven’t won big battles, while others have won elections but haven’t consistently taken on the big issues.