With social media tease, Wisconsin's Walker jumps into 2016

(AP) — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, a preacher's son who withstood a recall election spawned by his fight with public employee unions, is joining the crowded Republican presidential race, aides said on Thursday.

Having spent the past several months traveling the country, speaking to conservatives, courting voters and scoring well in some early polls, Walker will officially enter the race with a campaign announcement in the Milwaukee suburb of Waukesha on July 13, the aides said.

Walker started a countdown of sorts to his kickoff by posting a slice of his presidential campaign logo on Instagram, with eight more pieces to come in the days ahead.

[...] the race has been underway for months.

Along the way, he shattered state campaign finance records, collecting six-figure checks from prominent conservatives across the country and building a network he's tapping now for his presidential bid.

The second investigation, which grew out of the first, centered on whether conservative groups illegally coordinated fundraising and other political activity to benefit Walker's recall campaign and other Republicans who faced recalls in 2011 and 2012.