Story highlights
- Scott Walker has held the lead in Iowa, but Trump is knocking at the door
- Republicans see the Walker super PAC's $7 million ad buy as a "strong move"
Washington (CNN)Iowa has long been the must-win state for Scott Walker, but the growing threat of Donald Trump has the Wisconsin governor's team fortifying its battlements in the state.
The super PAC backing Walker, Unintimidated PAC, told CNN Wednesday that it was buying $7 million of air time in Iowa and starting to saturate the airwaves in September, a major marker. The PAC is also planning to announce buys soon in Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina.
Walker has long led most polls of Republican caucusgoers in Iowa, starting from his breakout speech at the Iowa Freedom Summit this past January. And Walker, with his level Midwestern demeanor and northeast Iowa roots, plays naturally in the state directly adjacent to his.
Still, the Walker lead has slipped away little by little as Trump has solidified a core of Republican supporters across the nation.
The official Walker campaign, meanwhile, touted the support of its Iowa Leadership Team, Wednesday, with dozens of elected Republicans. Walker is also expected to release the names of leadership teams in Nevada, New Hampshire and South Carolina as well in the coming days.
Will biker cred help Scott Walker with Harley voters? 02:16
"There is no doubt he is the frontrunner in Iowa today. This is partially, I assume, to stop the Trump factor dead in its tracks in Iowa," said a Walker fundraiser who spoke on condition of anonymity to speak candidly about the direction of the Walker campaign.
The latest Iowa poll, conducted by NBC/Marist in mid-July, found Walker's support at 19% and Trump's at 17%. For Walker, that represented a slight drop from a Monmouth New Jersey poll conducted over a similar period in July 16-19 where he was at 22% and a bump for Trump, who had been at 13% support.
Trump rocketed to the top of New Hampshire polling, knocking former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush from his perch there. And Trump's standing in national polls has consistently dwarfed opponents going on two weeks now.
Iowa appears to be the last outpost for anyone not named Trump.
Photos: Scott Walker's career
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker dropped out of the presidential race on Monday, September 21. He was seeking the Republican Party's nomination.
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Photos: Scott Walker's career
Walker fields questions from Bruce Rastetter at the Iowa Agriculture Summit on March 7, 2015 in Des Moines, Iowa.
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Photos: Scott Walker's career
Walker speaks at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference at National Harbor, Maryland, outside Washington, D.C. on February 26, 2015.
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Photos: Scott Walker's career
Walker speaks to guests at the Iowa Freedom Summit on January 24, 2015, in Des Moines, Iowa.
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Photos: Scott Walker's career
Walker speaks at his election night party November 4, 2014, in West Allis, Wisconsin. Walker defeated the Democratic challenger Mary Burke.
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Photos: Scott Walker's career
Walker shakes hands with Democrat challenger Mary Burke before facing off in a debate at the WMVS-TV studios October, 17, 2014, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
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Photos: Scott Walker's career
Walker has a scarf put on his head during a special service at the Sikh Religious Society of Wisconsin for the victims of the shooting at the Sikh Temple of Wisconsin the previous day, on August 6, 2012, in Brookfield, Wisconsin.
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Photos: Scott Walker's career
Walker speaks during the Republican Jewish Coalition spring leadership meeting at The Venetian Las Vegas on March 29, 2014.
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Photos: Scott Walker's career
Scott Walker (left) shakes hands with Chinese President Xi Jinping (center) before a meeting as Iowa Governor Terry Branstad (right) looks on at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on April 15, 2013.
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Photos: Scott Walker's career
Walker poses with a woman during the Republican National Convention at the Tampa Bay Times Forum on August 28, 2012, in Tampa, Florida.
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Photos: Scott Walker's career
Walker prepares to cast his ballot at Jefferson School to vote in the gubernatorial recall election June 5, 2012, in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin.
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Photos: Scott Walker's career
Walker (right) listens to Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal speak as they campaign at the Waukesha Victory Center on May 24, 2012, in Waukesha, Wisconsin.
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Photos: Scott Walker's career
Walker addresses the National Rifle Association Leadership Forum April 13, 2012, in St. Louis, Missouri.
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Photos: Scott Walker's career
Walker stands on the North Lawn of the White House before making remarks to the news media after a meeting of the National Governors Association with President Barack Obama on February 27, 2012.
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Photos: Scott Walker's career
President Barack Obama receives a Milwaukee Brewers baseball jersey from Walker (left) as he disembarks from Air Force One upon arrival at General Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, February 15, 2012.
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Photos: Scott Walker's career
Walker listens during the 2011 Governors Summit of U.S. Chamber of Commerce June 20, 2011, in Washington, D.C.
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Photos: Scott Walker's career
Members of Code Pink (left to right) Medea Benjamin, Liz Hourican and Tighe Barry, hold signs to protest as Walker (center) takes his seat during a hearing before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee April 14, 2011, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.
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Photos: Scott Walker's career
Walker holds a letter from democratic State Sen. Mark Miller, one of the fourteen Wisconsin state senators who fled the state over two weeks ago, during a press conference on March 7, 2011, in Madison, Wisconsin.
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Photos: Scott Walker's career
Walker holds up a 'Wisconsin is open for business' bumper sticker as he speaks during a ceremonial bill signing outside his office at the Wisconsin State Capitol on March 11, 2011, in Madison, Wisconsin.
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Walker delivers his budget address to a joint session of the legislature at the capitol March 1, 2011 in Madison, Wisconsin.
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Photos: Scott Walker's career
Walker speaks at a news conference inside the Wisconsin State Capitol February 21, 2011, in Madison, Wisconsin.
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President Obama receives a Green Bay Packers NFL football team jersey with 'Obama #1' written on it from Walker (left) at Austin Straubel International Airport in Green Bay, Wisconsin, on January 26, 2011.
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The Walker campaign argued against reading much from movement by the campaign or the super PAC -- which is barred from coordinating with the campaign -- at this point.
"We have a pathway in every state you listed and more. We have a candidate who can appeal to more primary voters than most and we plan to take advantage of that. Our announcement tour was three weeks and hit 16 states for a reason," Walker communications director Kirsten Kukowski said Wednesday.
For his part, Trump has actually built an organization in Iowa, under the leadership of Iowa campaign veteran Chuck Laudner.
And, should he decide to spend any of his own money, Trump could spend on-air almost indiscriminately, placing him at a level with money leader Jeb Bush. But, for now, Trump has been enjoying free airtime via the national press (something competitor Sen. Rand Paul griped about last week.
Scott Walker leads Iowa Poll 01:16
Craig Robinson, a veteran Iowa Republican operative and editor of TheIowaRepubllican.com, called the Walker PAC ad buy "a strong move, and a smart move."
"He's proven he's going to put the time and effort here going county to county, he's made that abundantly clear since announcing his presidency," Robinson said.
Robinson doesn't see Trump as a threat in Iowa. Instead, the big Walker ad-buy looks like it's aimed at other Iowa contenders like Sen. Ted Cruz and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.
"This is a real telling moment," he said. "In some ways, I wonder if they're going to just try to scare people out."
President-elect Donald Trump has been in the spotlight for years. From developing real estate and producing and starring in TV shows, he became a celebrity long before winning the White House.
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Trump at age 4. He was born in 1946 to Fred and Mary Trump in New York City. His father was a real estate developer.
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Trump, left, in a family photo. He was the second-youngest of five children.
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Trump, center, stands at attention during his senior year at the New York Military Academy in 1964.
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Trump, center, wears a baseball uniform at the New York Military Academy in 1964. After he graduated from the boarding school, he went to college. He started at Fordham University before transferring and later graduating from the Wharton School, the University of Pennsylvania's business school.
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Trump stands with Alfred Eisenpreis, New York's economic development administrator, in 1976 while they look at a sketch of a new 1,400-room renovation project of the Commodore Hotel. After graduating college in 1968, Trump worked with his father on developments in Queens and Brooklyn before purchasing or building multiple properties in New York and Atlantic City, New Jersey. Those properties included Trump Tower in New York and Trump Plaza and multiple casinos in Atlantic City.
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Trump attends an event to mark the start of construction of the New York Convention Center in 1979.
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Trump wears a hard hat at the Trump Tower construction site in New York in 1980.
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Trump was married to Ivana Zelnicek Trump from 1977 to 1990, when they divorced. They had three children together: Donald Jr., Ivanka and Eric.
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The Trump family, circa 1986.
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Trump uses his personal helicopter to get around New York in 1987.
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Trump stands in the atrium of the Trump Tower.
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Trump attends the opening of his new Atlantic City casino, the Taj Mahal, in 1989.
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Trump signs his second book, "Trump: Surviving at the Top," in 1990. Trump has published at least 16 other books, including "The Art of the Deal" and "The America We Deserve."
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Trump and singer Michael Jackson pose for a photo before traveling to visit Ryan White, a young child with AIDS, in 1990.
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Trump dips his second wife, Marla Maples, after the couple married in a private ceremony in New York in December 1993. The couple divorced in 1999 and had one daughter together, Tiffany.
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Trump putts a golf ball in his New York office in 1998.
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An advertisement for the television show "The Apprentice" hangs at Trump Tower in 2004. The show launched in January of that year. In January 2008, the show returned as "Celebrity Apprentice."
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A 12-inch talking Trump doll is on display at a toy store in New York in September 2004.
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Trump attends a news conference in 2005 that announced the establishment of Trump University. From 2005 until it closed in 2010, Trump University had about 10,000 people sign up for a program that promised success in real estate. Three separate lawsuits -- two class-action suits filed in California and one filed by New York's attorney general -- argued that the program was mired in fraud and deception. Trump's camp rejected the suits' claims as "baseless." And Trump has charged that the New York case against him is politically motivated.
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Trump attends the U.S. Open tennis tournament with his third wife, Melania Knauss-Trump, and their son, Barron, in 2006. Trump and Knauss married in 2005.
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Trump wrestles with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin at WrestleMania in 2007. Trump has close ties with the WWE and its CEO, Vince McMahon.
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For "The Apprentice," Trump was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in January 2007.
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Trump appears on the set of "The Celebrity Apprentice" with two of his children -- Donald Jr. and Ivanka -- in 2009.
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Trump poses with Miss Universe contestants in 2011. Trump had been executive producer of the Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants since 1996.
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In 2012, Trump announces his endorsement of Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
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Trump speaks in Sarasota, Florida, after accepting the Statesman of the Year Award at the Sarasota GOP dinner in August 2012. It was shortly before the Republican National Convention in nearby Tampa.
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Trump appears on stage with singer Nick Jonas and television personality Giuliana Rancic during the 2013 Miss USA pageant.
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In June 2015, during a speech from Trump Tower, Trump announced that he was running for President. He said he would give up "The Apprentice" to run.
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Trump -- flanked by U.S. Sens. Marco Rubio, left, and Ted Cruz -- speaks during a CNN debate in Miami on March 10. Trump dominated the GOP primaries and emerged as the presumptive nominee in May.
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The Trump family poses for a photo in New York in April.
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Trump speaks during a campaign event in Evansville, Indiana, on April 28. After Trump won the Indiana primary, his last two competitors dropped out of the GOP race.
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Trump delivers a speech at the Republican National Convention in July, accepting the party's nomination for President. "I have had a truly great life in business," he said. "But now, my sole and exclusive mission is to go to work for our country -- to go to work for you. It's time to deliver a victory for the American people."
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Trump faces Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in the first presidential debate, which took place in Hempstead, New York, in September.
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Trump apologizes in a video, posted to his Twitter account in October, for vulgar and sexually aggressive remarks he made a decade ago regarding women. "I said it, I was wrong and I apologize," Trump said, referring to lewd comments he made during a previously unaired taping of "Access Hollywood." Multiple Republican leaders rescinded their endorsements of Trump after the footage was released.
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Trump walks on stage with his family after he was declared the election winner on November 9. "Ours was not a campaign, but rather, an incredible and great movement," he told his supporters in New York.
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Trump is joined by his family as he is sworn in as President on January 20.
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The Walker team, however, has made no secret of its need to win Iowa, privately telling CNN before the Trump boom of what that means. And, as realism goes, the campaign has largely ruled out fighting in Florida -- where native sons Bush and Sen. Marco Rubio are clear favorites.
The Walker team does however have a southern strategy , that leans on a strong showing in South Carolina.
Unintimidated PAC adviser Brad Dayspring pointed out Wednesday that the Iowa buy was just the first in a string of announced moves.
More immediate for Walker, himself, will be dealing with The Donald on stage and in person before a national audience for the first Republican debate. Walker has refused to engage Trump -- who has occasionally turned his ire from Bush to Walker -- but the two are arranged to stand side-by-side for two hours Thursday night.