Walker won’t return controversial campaign contribution

Republican gubernatorial candidate Scott Walker says he won't return a campaign donation from an engineering firm hired to look at a damaged parking garage. That's even though the political heat on Walker is being turned up.

After a concrete slab recently fell off a Milwaukee County parking garage and killed a teenager, county officials hired the engineering firm Graef-USA to look at the structure. Graef has donated to Walker's gubernatorial campaign, and that's caught the eye of investigative reporters and state Democrats.

But Walker says Graef was not hired because it’s a donor. He also says his campaign won't return the donation to reduce any appearance of a conflict of interest.

Walker's refusal to return the campaign donation disappoints one of his frequent critics on the Milwaukee County board supervisor John Weishan. Weishan and some other county supervisors are asking that a full report about the Graef contract be made to the Milwaukee County board.

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