UPDATED Monday, July 20, 2009 --- 10:50 a.m.

MADISON, Wis. (AP) -- Republican Scott Walker says raising $1.1 million in the first six months of this year shows that his campaign for governor "is for real."

Reports filed Monday show Walker out-raised incumbent Gov. Jim Doyle by $200,000.

Walker says his strong fundraising should remove any doubts from those who wondered whether he could raise the money needed to mount a successful campaign. Concerns over his fundraising ability led to his dropping out of the governor's race in 2006.

Doyle campaign spokesman Mike Edmondson says he believes the governor is in a "very competitive" position. But he says Doyle has been focused on his job as governor, not raising campaign money.

Doyle has $2 million cash on hand and Walker has $1.1 million.

Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

____________________________________________________

Posted Wednesday, July 1, 2009 -- 4:45 pm
By Zac Schultz

Madison: Now that the state budget has been signed, speculation at the Capitol has turned to the fall of 2010 and the race for Governor.

The field is becoming quite clear. Wednesday, former Republican Congressman Mark Neumann filed papers announcing his candidacy. "I can't sit on the sidelines and watch as our jobs leave this state."

Neumann represented the 1st Congressional District in the mid-90's, but he is best known for his close loss to Sen. Russ Feingold in the 1998 race for the U.S. Senate.

Neumann joins two other challengers in the Republican primary. Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker ran in 2006 before eventually dropping out. He's running again. "I know that we can build a better Wisconsin and that's why I'm proud to stand in my hometown in Wauwautosa and declare to the people of this state that I'm going to run for Governor to bring this state back."

Appleton businessman Mark Todd is also running.

Neumann has spent 10 years runnning his own real estate development firm and fears his grandchildren won't be able to get jobs when they grow up. "I look at those little boys and I ask myself, where are they going to be working? Are they going to be working in Wisconsin when they grow up or are they going to be in Mexico or China or India?"

It's not a guarantee the Republican winner will be facing Gov. Jim Doyle. He has repeatedly declined to say if he's running for a third term. " I still got a lot of work ahead of me before I worry about that," Doyle said Monday.

No matter what, Neumann says the primary issue will be jobs. "Creating jobs here in the state of Wisconsin is going to be the single number one issue in this campaign. Whoever lays out the best plan to do that is going to be elected the next Governor."