Republican presidential candidates bring campaigns to ALEC

SAN DIEGO (KUSI) – Mike Huckabee, the former Arkansas governor, and Scott Walker, the governor of Wisconsin, were among those scheduled to speak Thursday at the 42nd annual meeting of the American Legislative Executive Council.

ALEC bills itself as the country's largest 'nonpartisan voluntary membership organization of state legislators', according to its website.

The meetings have been met with protest, however, as local union leaders and more than 1,000 protesters gathered outside the conference. ALEC, they claim, provides methods for corporate lobbyists and legislators to meet outside of the public eye.

Walker has been the governor of Wisconsin since 2010, and recently signed legislation placing restrictions on union organization in his state. Huckabee has twice ran for president. In a recent poll of Republican candidates, Walker and Huckabee placed second and fourth, respectively.

Texas senator Ted Cruz had been scheduled to speak at the conference Friday, but was forced to cancel due to a scheduling conflict.