PERSON: Scott McCallum

Governor McCallum was born on May 2, 1950 in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, the eldest of four children. His father worked as an assembly worker at the Giddings & Lewis manufacturing company and later as a letter carrier, and served as president of his Letter Carrier’s Union. Scott’s mother was a homemaker and bank teller.

Scott grew up in Fond du Lac and graduated from Goodrich Public High School, where he lettered in four sports – basketball, football, baseball and tennis. Scott spent his summers working as a stock boy at a local Sears store, a lifeguard and swim coach at the neighborhood pool and unloading rail from gondola cars. Through these experiences, Scott learned the importance of a good work ethic and small-town values.

This commitment to hard work and sound values helped Scott make his way through Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota. To help make ends meet, Scott washed dishes in the school cafeteria. He participated in three college sports — football, swimming and baseball — and served as captain of his college football team. After graduating from Macalester College in 1972 with a B.A. degree in Economics and Political Science, Scott earned a master’s degree in International Economics from Johns Hopkins University in 1974. Scott then went to work in Washington D.C. as an aide to the late Congressman William Steiger. He later returned to Fond du Lac where he founded and managed a property development firm and served as a YMCA Program Director.



Political History:

In 1976 – at the age of 26 — Scott decided to run for the State Senate seat which included his hometown of Fond du Lac. He ran in the Republican primary against a 20-year incumbent and, in a stunning upset, he beat the incumbent by 32 votes.

In the State Senate, Scott earned a reputation for strong, aggressive action, pushing for action on such causes as: increasing penalties for drunk driving offenses and assaults on prison guards; creating a health insurance risk pool for people considered uninsurable; indexing individual income taxes to account for inflation; and “sunsetting” certain pieces of legislation. Scott served for four years on the powerful Joint Finance Committee; five years on the Legislative Council and as one of six legislative members of the Joint Survey Committee on Retirement Systems.

From 1976 to 1980, Scott was Chairman of the State Senate Campaign Committee, a period in which State Senate seats held by Republicans increased by almost 50 percent.

In 1982, Scott won the Republican U.S. Senate primary with 72% of the vote. In the general election against incumbent Senator William Proxmire, Scott won the third highest percentage of votes in the nation against a Democratic incumbent.

In 1986, Scott announced his candidacy for Lieutenant Governor and he ran on a platform of restoring confidence in state government, revitalizing the state’s economy, and rebuilding confidence in the state’s ability to tackle any problem. In the general election against incumbent Democratic Governor Tony Earl, Tommy G. Thompson and Scott McCallum emerged victorious.

Scott became the 43rd governor of Wisconsin in February 2001 after Gov. Thompson resigned to become secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Social Services.



Accomplishments:

During his tenure as Wisconsin’s Lieutenant Governor, Scott assembled a long list of accomplishments that are consistent with the common sense, small town Wisconsin philosophy he first brought to the State Senate back in 1976.

As governor, he continues to build on the foundation he built as lieutenant governor - controlling government spending, strengthening Wisconsin’s economy and making sure every child in Wisconsin gets a first-rate education.

In his inaugural address, McCallum declared his first priority to be reducing Wisconsin’s overall tax burden, which threatens to undo the many economic gains made in Wisconsin during his 14 as lieutenant governor. Gov. McCallum plans to achieve this by controlling state spending. The first budget he introduced as governor includes the smallest spending increase in 30 years. Gov. McCallum also has proposed a state-spending cap with surpluses to be returned to taxpayers and set aside in a stabilization fund.

Gov. McCallum continues to promote education reform that gives teachers and parents more control over the education of Wisconsin’s children, and ensures more accountability for educational performance.

Gov. McCallum envisions for Wisconsin a seamless, life-long learning system and he makes a large commitment to education. He has proposed more than $500 million in additional school aids, smaller class sizes, merit pay for teachers, expanded charter schools authority and greater accountability. He also has made a large commitment to the state’s university and technical college systems and wants to encourage graduates of higher education in Wisconsin to remain in the state to pursue high-skill and high-wage jobs in an expanding economy.

Gov. McCallum also is committed to protecting and enhancing Wisconsin’s environment, and to enhancing productivity and efficiency in government. Gov. McCallum seeks to make Wisconsin the best place to establish a career, raise a family and retire.



Family:

Scott is married to Laurie McCallum. The couple has three children – Zachary, Rory and Cara. Scott has also been active as a volunteer coach for youth sports teams; served on the Board of Directors for Wisconsin Special Olympics; served as State Chairman of the YMCA Youth in Government; and has remained a member of the Fond du Lac Rotary Club.