Walker becomes Wisconsin's 45th governor - WQOW TV: Eau Claire, WI NEWS18 News, Weather, and Sports

MADISON (WKOW) - Scott Walker officially became Wisconsin's 45th governor at 12:01 a.m. Monday.

Walker is the state's first Republican governor in 8 years. He will take a ceremonial oath of office at noon Monday at the State Capitol.

Walker says his first priority this week is jobs.

"Certainly, today, I hope we can take all the excitement and celebration of having a new governor, and translate and project that out to the rest of the state in terms of getting that optimism, in terms of getting the state working again, that's really what we need," Walker said.

As reported last week, Walker took the official oath of office on Thursday. Paperwork was filed at the Secretary of State's office.

Political action groups are planning rallies outside the Capitol when Walker takes the oath of office. Citizen Action of Wisconsin expects hundreds of people to attend events calling on the new governor to keep his campaign pledge of creating 250,000 new jobs.

Walker plans to call the legislature into special session on his first day in office. Its focus will be on job creation.