Republican Party of Wisconsin

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Republican Party of Wisconsin
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Seats in the Wisconsin Assembly
64 / 99
Website
www.wisgop.org

The Republican Party of Wisconsin is a

conservative political party in Wisconsin and is the Wisconsin affiliate of the United States Republican Party (GOP). The state party chair is Brian Schimming.[1] The state party is divided into 72 county parties for each of the state's counties,[2] as well as organizations for the state's eight congressional districts.[3]

History

See also:
History of the United States Republican Party and History of Wisconsin
Old photo of the Little White Schoolhouse. Birthplace of the republican party
.

After the introduction in Congress of the

anti-slavery
meeting to propose a new party with its name being Republican.

Origins of the Republican Party in Wisconsin

Before the meeting in Ripon, an alliance existed between state

Milwaukee Sentinel) and Sherman Booth (Waukesha Free Democrat) encouraged the formation of a new party by calling for an anti-Nebraska convention at the state capitol in Madison. At a large meeting in Milwaukee on February 13, Booth led a committee that drafted many of the resolutions that would later be the basis for other anti-Nebraska meetings in the state, including the famous meeting in Ripon.[6]

Birth of the Republican Party

The organizer of the meeting that gave birth to America's Republican Party was

monarchies
.

On February 26, 1854, Bovay sent a letter to Greeley urging him to editorialize about a new Republican party, without result. In the meantime he organized a public meeting at the Congregational Church in Ripon on March 1, where resolutions were passed condemning the Nebraska bill and promising a new party if it became law. The Senate passed the bill two days later, which prompted Bovay to organize another meeting in Ripon at Schoolhouse Dist. No. 2 on March 20, 1854, at 6:30 p.m. Composed of Whigs, Democrats and Free Soilers, 54 of Ripon's 100 voters filled the schoolhouse to capacity and were nearly unanimous in their support of a new party with Bovay's suggested name Republican. Bovay wrote Greeley on June 4 urging him to publicize the name before Michigan and Wisconsin held their state anti-Nebraska conventions, which Greeley did in a Tribune editorial on June 24.[7]

Organizing the Republican Party of Wisconsin

On June 9 Sherman Booth repeated the call for a mass convention in Madison, and suggested July 13, the anniversary of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 that had banned slavery in the Northwest Territory. Other Wisconsin editors concurred and publicized the convention.[8]

Beginning in the capitol's assembly chamber, the state convention was moved outdoors due to the many delegates and supporters arriving, with the crowd topping one thousand. The proceedings were run by experienced Whigs and Free Soilers, with editors Booth and King controlling the platform and nominating officers from all three major parties.[9] Resolutions included abrogating the Fugitive Slave Act, re-instating Kansas and Nebraska as free states and banning all future slave states. They also resolved to invite all persons "whether of native or foreign birth" to join the party, and a committee was assigned to establish a Republican German newspaper in Milwaukee. All resolutions were passed unanimously, and nine hearty cheers went up for the state's new Republican Party.[10]

After winning over much of the foreign-language press, the new party was very successful in the fall elections, helped greatly by the fact that the state Democrats were deeply split over the Kansas-Nebraska Act. The Republicans elected two of Wisconsin's three congressmen (Cadwallader C. Washburn and Charles Billinghurst), as well as winning enough seats in the state legislature to elect the country's first Republican senator, Charles Durkee.[11] By 1857 they not only controlled the governorship and the state legislature by large majorities, but also held all three Congressional seats and both U.S. Senate seats.

Despite such electoral domination, the Republican party was split over many issues. Many former Whigs pressed for temperance legislation, resulting in charges of nativism from many of the Germans brought into the party by Carl Schurz. United by national events like the Dred Scot decision, abolitionists still drove the party agenda, but were criticized for showing more concern for the black slave than for the white man. Following Sherman Booth's role in inciting the liberation of runaway slave Joshua Glover from a Milwaukee jail in 1854, many Republicans championed the issue of states' rights, declaring the Fugitive Slave Law effectively repealed in Wisconsin. Some in the party anticipated a confrontation with the federal government. Governor Alexander Randall ordered an Irish militia disbanded because he doubted their loyalty to Wisconsin. Many in the militia subsequently perished in the shipwreck of the Lady Elgin.

The Civil War era

James T. Lewis was the Republican Governor of Wisconsin, at the end of the American Civil War.[12]

The Wisconsin delegation to the 1860 Republican convention backed Senator

Civil War, governors like Randall and Edward Salomon
vigorously endorsed the war and mustered thousands of troops to meet the federal quotas, later resorting to a draft.

Politically, the Civil War was a boon to the Republicans. Returning officers like Brigadier General

Gettysburg, were the perfect spokesmen for the party. Fairchild later became a three-term governor. Republicans could forever claim they fought to preserve the Union, and veterans of the Grand Army of the Republic
became a powerful constituency.

The state Republican chairman from 1859 to 1869 was Wisconsin State Journal editor Horace Rublee, who with former governor Randall, Madison postmaster

postmaster general, and with Keyes they steered federal patronage jobs to political allies and strengthened the party's hold on the statehouse. Despite such power the state Republicans were divided into factions, with the more ideological members opposed to Johnson's vetoes of Freedman legislation and President Ulysses S. Grant's corrupt administration (many later joining Carl Schurz's Liberal Republican Party
in 1872). Another faction of patronage-seekers and loyal veterans supported Grant as a bulwark against what they saw as a traitorous Democratic Party. Nevertheless, the Republicans would continue to dominate Wisconsin government for the next six decades with few interruptions.

The 1870s and 1880s

Rublee ran a quiet campaign in the legislature for possible election as U.S. Senator, but after losing to

John C. Spooner of Hudson
was the principal attorney for the West Wisconsin Railroad, and his manipulation of land grants into Sawyer's hands contributed to his future as party insider, and later, U.S. senator alongside Sawyer. Upon his return from Europe Rublee resumed the chairmanship of the party. With help from backers, he purchased the Milwaukee Sentinel in 1882 and was its editor until his death in 1896.

The Republicans briefly lost control of state government following the

Grangers and Liberal Republicans elected Democrat William Taylor
as governor. Immigrant backlash against Republican-supported temperance legislation was also a major factor. In 1874 Republicans backed the weak railroad regulation of the Potter Law, but replaced the law with the even weaker Vance Law once they returned to power the next year.

Civil War veteran

William Hoard
(1889–1891), who published a widely read journal on dairy farming.

In 1890 the Republicans were swept from state offices again when the party ran afoul of ethnic politics by supporting the Bennett Law, a compulsory school attendance measure that stipulated that all classes must be taught in English. Immigrant groups and supporters of parochial schools condemned the law while Governor Hoard and the Milwaukee Sentinel continued to defend it. Democrats won in a landslide, but the GOP returned to power two years later.

The Progressive Era

During the 1890s the state Republican party was split into two factions. The

stalwart faction in power was led by wealthy men such as Sawyer, Payne, Spooner and Charles F. Pfister (who would purchase the Milwaukee Sentinel in 1900). The other faction (the "halfbreeds") was composed of reform-minded Republicans such as Dunn County's Albert R. Hall and Soldiers Grove's James O. Davidson who saw the powerful railroad and utility monopolies (such as The Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company
(TMER&L)) cheating their customers and corrupting their politicians.

Robert M. La Follette, leader of the progressive faction of the party.[13]

Following three terms as a stand-pat Republican congressman from Madison,

primary elections and taxation of corporations based on the value of property
. In 1904 the stalwarts fought bitterly against his second re-election with the use of bribed editors and a rump convention, but La Follette prevailed and saw his reforms passed. The state legislature elected him U.S. senator in 1905.

Succeeding La Follette as governor was James O. Davidson, who supported and signed into law reforms such as state regulation of industries, insurance companies and other businesses. Governor

Emanuel Philipp
as governor. Despite campaigning on promises to dismantle progressive programs, Philipp proved to be a moderate, leaving nearly all of the reforms intact.

World War I

Emanuel L. Philipp was the governor of Wisconsin during the First World War and represented the Conservative faction of the party.[14][15]

As World War I raged in Europe, most Wisconsin Republicans moved cautiously from neutrality to preparedness. One exception was Sen. La Follette, an outspoken opponent of American participation in the war. In February 1917 he led a group of progressive senators in blocking President

Liberty bonds, generate propaganda and stifle dissent
.

The war shattered the traditional alignments within the state's parties. Many progressives joined the stalwarts in supporting Wisconsin's war measures, while many immigrant voters abandoned Wilson's Democratic Party. Loyalty became a prime issue in political campaigns, to the detriment of farmers and others shortchanged by the war. Even after the Armistice, super-patriots like state senator Roy P. Wilcox of Eau Claire weren't above accusing party figures like Gov. Philipp and Sen. Irvine Lenroot of divided loyalties. To thwart Wilcox's run for governor in 1920, the Philipp and La Follette forces separately supported John Blaine, the former mayor of Boscobel and a La Follette progressive.

The 1920s

During the 1920s state Republicans racked up a decade of tremendous legislative majorities. For example, in 1925 the Democrats held no seats in the state senate and only one in the assembly, while the Republicans held 92 assembly seats.

Robert La Follette, Jr. defeated Wilcox in the special election to fill his father's senate seat, while his younger brother Philip F. La Follette was elected Dane County
district attorney.

To fight the progressives, conservative Republicans organized the Republican Voluntary Committee as a political action group to strategize and raise large donations outside the state party. The RVC cited a Wisconsin Manufacturers Association-financed study that concluded that businesses were leaving the state due to high taxes, but the report was refuted by economists that proved manufacturing had grown in the state. The study backfired and Gov. Blaine succeeded in shifting the tax burden from property to income.[17]

With help from the Republican Voluntary Committee the stalwarts returned to the governorship with the 1928 election of Walter J. Kohler of

Kohler Company, a plumbing fixture manufacturer who practiced an industrial policy of benevolence towards his workers (including the planned community of Kohler
) as a guard against unions. Like President Herbert Hoover, Kohler was stimied by the stock market crash of 1929, and his attempts to mitigate the effects of the Depression were ineffective. Running for re-election in 1930 Kohler was beaten decisively in the Republican primary by Phil La Follette, who led a successful slate of progressive allies to state office and Congress in the general election.

Decline of the Progressive faction

After the 1930s and 1940s, the influence of the progressive faction began to wane as many eventually left office or joined the Democrats and the conservatives gradually took control. In 1934,

Joe McCarthy in the Republican primary for senate in 1946.[19]

Cold War era

Following World War II many progressives were either defeated by or joined the Democratic Party. Conservatives increasingly began to dominate the Republican Party, though many more moderate members still continued to exert influence. This new conservative trend in the party was most famously exemplified by

Joe McCarthy, who represented Wisconsin in the U.S. Senate from 1947 until his death in 1957. Initially described as "quiet," McCarthy eventually rose to national prominence over his stanch anti-communist views, and for being a primary instigator of the red scare during the early 1950s. McCarthy's wild and often false attacks against various government officials for being communist, including at one point targeting fellow Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower, eventually led him to be censured by his colleagues in the Senate in 1954, and also led to the creation of the term McCarthyism. By this point, public opinion throughout the country had generally turned against him.[20]

Senator Joseph McCarthy

Back at home, the state Republicans' dominance of Wisconsin politics began to wane during the second half of the 20th century, with the party now regularly alternating and sharing control with the state's

Walter J. Kohler, Jr. and Warren P. Knowles, both of whom were of the more moderate wing of the party. At the federal level, with the exception of U.S. Senate seats following the death of McCarthy, the Republicans continued to hold an edge. Between 1952 and 1972, Wisconsin voted for the Republican candidate in each presidential election except for 1964
.

By the 1970s however, especially after the

Robert W. Kasten Jr. unseated three-term incumbent Democrat Gaylord Nelson in the state's election for U.S. Senate
.

The 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s

With a faltering state economy and rising budget deficit, Dreyfus chose not to seek a second term in 1982, and the Republicans ultimately found themselves relegated to the minority once again, with the Democrats winning back the governorship and still maintaining wide majorities in the state legislature. In spite of this trend, Reagan would still manage to carry the state in his 1984 re-election as president, though this would mark the last time until 2016 where a Republican would carry Wisconsin in a presidential bid.

At the state level, by the mid-1980s, the conservative transformation of the Republicans was completed. Subsequently, the party began to break free of its status as a minority party in the state. In

Robert W. Kasten Jr.'s 1992 defeat in his bid for re-election by Russ Feingold
, the party would fail to win another Senate race for nearly two decades.

For most of the 2000s, following the departure of Thompson from the governorship and the later defeat of his lieutenant governor

J.B. Van Hollen
).

The rise and fall of Scott Walker

The Republican party of Wisconsin and the politics of the state in general during the 2010s were heavily dominated by the rise of stanch conservative Governor Scott Walker, backed by the then adescent Tea Party movement, a right-wing conservative movement that had formed in the late 2000s in response to Obama's election as President of the United States. In 2010, the Republicans, particularly those backed by the Tea Party movement, made sweeping gains in the state. Alongside Walker's victory in the 2010 governor's race, Republicans also won every other statewide seat up for election, including a U.S. Senate seat won by Tea Party-backed Ron Johnson, as well as both chambers of the state's legislature.

Shortly after taking power in 2011, Walker introduced

2012 recall election
against Walker, where he defeated his opponent from 2010 in a rematch by a slightly wider margin than the previous time. In the other subsequent recall elections in June 2012, Republicans lost control of the State Senate by a single seat to the Democrats, though they gained back their majority the following November.

During his time in office, Walker signed numerous pieces of landmark (and often controversial) legislation into law, including laws restricting access to abortion, loosening labor regulations, and cutting property taxes. After being

2016 Wisconsin Republican primary
, though Walker later supported Trump after he clinched the party's nomination, and Trump went on to be the first Republican to carry Wisconsin in a presidential election since 1984.

Later in 2018, Walker sought re-election to a third term as governor, however his glamour as a young energetic conservative by this point had largely worn off, and his rising unpopularity due to his policies concerning public education,[22] infrastructure, and a deal his administration made with Taiwanese company Foxconn in 2017 to create jobs in the state in exchange for around $4.5 billion in taxpayer subsidies,[23] made re-election in 2018 far difficult than in his previous races. His increasingly unpopular conservative policies, compounded by the relative unpopularity of Trump in Wisconsin,[24] ultimately resulted in Walker's defeat by Democratic candidate Tony Evers. Republicans also subsequently lost all statewide executive offices, though in spite of this they maintained wide majorities in both chambers of the state legislature despite losing the overall statewide vote, which some people have attributed to gerrymandering that took place following the 2010 elections.

Wisconsin Republicans today

Following the defeat of Scott Walker, in December 2018, a special legislative session was called by Walker to pass a series of bills to limit the powers of his incoming successor Tony Evers, as well as incoming Democratic State attorney general Josh Kaul who had defeated incumbent Republican Brad Schimel.[25] The bills were widely denounced by Democrats and others as a "power grab." Walker and other Republicans meanwhile argued that the bills were necessary "checks on power" and that they did not actually strip any real powers from the executive.[26] Lawsuits were filed by Evers and various labor unions almost immediately after Walker signed the bills into law.[27]

On October 22, 2020, the party noticed suspicious activity in its account used for Donald Trump's reelection campaign. It soon appeared that hackers had altered invoices so that, when the party paid its expenses, $2.3 million was paid to the hackers rather than to the actual vendors to whom it was owed.[28]

During the 2022 Wisconsin elections, the Republicans gained a U.S. House seat, with Derrick Van Orden replacing Ron Kind, who did not run for re-election, and U.S. Senator Ron Johnson was re-elected to a third term, defeating Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes by 26,718 votes.[29][30] Additionally, Republicans gained three seats in the State Assembly and one seat in the State Senate. However, Republicans lost elections for all statewide executive offices, with the exception of John Leiber who was elected State Treasurer by a slim 38,604 votes.

Currently the Republican Party of Wisconsin controls one of two U.S. Senate seats and six of eight U.S. House seats, as well as majorities in both houses of the state legislature. The party holds one statewide executive office, State Treasurer.

The largest youth outreach arm of the Republican Party of Wisconsin is the Wisconsin College Republicans,[31] a member group of the College Republicans of America (CRA).[32] The Wisconsin College Republicans have over twenty chapters around the state, with major chapters at University of Wisconsin–Madison, Marquette University, University of Wisconsin–Platteville, and University of Wisconsin–Stout.[33] The current Chairman of the Wisconsin College Republicans is William Blathras, who is serving in his second term as Chair.[34]

Conventions

2009 Republican Party of Wisconsin Convention

The 2009 party convention was held in La Crosse on May 1, with the highlight being straw polls for the upcoming 2010 gubernatorial and senatorial elections.[35]

2010 Republican Party of Wisconsin Convention

The 2010 party convention was held May 21–23 in

Milwaukee. The convention was the largest in RPW history with over 1500 delegates registering and participating in the convention. The convention endorsed Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker
for Governor with 91% of the vote.

2011 Republican Party of Wisconsin Convention

The 2011 RPW convention was held May 20–22 in Wisconsin Dells. The convention was held at Glacier Canyon Lodge at the Wilderness.

2012 Republican Party of Wisconsin Convention

The 2012 RPW Convention was held May 11–13 at the KI Convention Center in downtown

2012 Recall Election of Governor Scott Walker
.

Current elected officials

Senior Senator Johnson

The Wisconsin Republican Party controls the statewide office of Treasurer and holds a majority in both the Wisconsin Senate and Wisconsin State Assembly. Republicans also hold one of the state's U.S. Senate seats and six of the state's 8 U.S. House of Representatives seats.

Members of Congress

United States Senate

United States House of Representatives

Statewide offices

Legislative leadership

See also

References

  1. ^ "Republican Party of Wisconsin elects Brian Schimming as new chairman". CBS58. Retrieved 2023-01-16.
  2. ^ "Counties". wisgop.org. Archived from the original on 2010-02-10.
  3. ^ "District GOPs". wisgop.org. Archived from the original on 2009-09-22.
  4. ^ Richard N. Current, The History of Wisconsin, Vol. II, State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1976, p. 214.
  5. ^ Richard N. Current, The History of Wisconsin, Vol. II, State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1976, p. 218.
  6. ^ "The Public Life and Private Affairs of Sherman M. Booth" by Diane S. Butler, Wisconsin Magazine of History, Spring 1999, p. 175.
  7. ^ Gilman, A. F. The origin of the Republican Party. (Wisconsin : A.F. Gilman?, 1914?). Online facsimile at: http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/search.asp?id=137
  8. ^ "The Public Life and Private Affairs of Sherman M. Booth" by Diane S. Butler, Wisconsin Magazine of History, Spring 1999, p. 179.
  9. ^ "The Public Life and Private Affairs of Sherman M. Booth" by Diane S. Butler, Wisconsin Magazine of History, Spring 1999, p. 182.
  10. ^ Wisconsin Daily [State] Journal, July 14, 1854
  11. ^ Richard N. Current, The History of Wisconsin, Vol. II State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1976, p. 222-224
  12. ^ "Governor James T. Lewis". Wisconsin Historical Society. 2023-03-05.
  13. ^ "La Follette, Robert Marion Sr. 1855 - 1925". Wisconsin Historical Society. 2017-08-08. Retrieved 2023-10-26.
  14. ^ "Philipp, Emanuel Lorenz 1861 - 1925". Wisconsin Historical Society. 2017-08-08. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
  15. ^ "Emanuel L. Philipp". National Governors Association. 2011-01-03. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
  16. ^ Wisconsin Blue Book 2003-2004, "Political Composition of the Wisconsin Legislature 1885-2003," p. 260.
  17. ^ The History of Wisconsin 1914-1940 by Paul W. Glad, 1990. State Historical Society of Wisconsin, p.309-310.
  18. ^ Wisconsin Progressive Party The Historical Marker Database
  19. ^ Jacob Stampen; Linda Endlich. "A Tale of Two Republican Governors–Stalwart Walker and Progressive LaFollette: Historical Perspective on Present-Day Wisconsin Politics" (PDF). wiscape.wisc.edu. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-03-10.
  20. ^ "Joseph McCarthy". britannica.com. Retrieved 2020-01-31.
  21. ^ "Tommy Thompson". britannica.com. Retrieved 2020-01-31.
  22. ^ "Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's assault on public education could be coming back to bite him". New York Times. 2018-10-18. Retrieved 2019-07-31.
  23. ^ "Foxconn cost to public nearing $4.5 billion". Madison.com. 2018-01-17. Retrieved 2019-07-31.
  24. ^ "Trump approval sags in trio of midwestern states". NBC News. 2018-07-25. Retrieved 2019-07-31.
  25. ^ "Wisconsin Republicans seek to hobble Democrats in lame duck session". The Guardian. 2018-12-02. Retrieved 2019-07-31.
  26. ^ "Twitter users have some things to say about Gov. Scott Walker's venn diagram". Journal Sentinel. 2018-12-17. Retrieved 2019-07-31.
  27. ^ "A look at lawsuits challenging Wisconsin's lame duck laws". AP News. 2019-02-04. Retrieved 2019-07-31.
  28. ^ Bauer, Scott (29 October 2020). "Wisconsin Republican Party Says Hackers Stole $2.3 Million". HuffPost. Retrieved 2020-10-30.
  29. ^ Mentzer, Rob (2022-11-04). "Derrick Van Orden defeats Brad Pfaff in nationally watched congressional swing district". Wisconsin Public Radio. Retrieved 2023-01-16.
  30. ^ "Ron Johnson defeats Mandela Barnes in Wisconsin Senate race, NBC News projects". NBC News. 9 November 2022. Retrieved 2023-01-16.
  31. ^ "Join Your College Republican Chapter". Republican Party of Wisconsin. Retrieved 2024-02-14.
  32. ^ "What We Do". Wisconsin College Republicans. Retrieved 2024-02-14.
  33. ^ "Chapters". Wisconsin College Republicans. Retrieved 2024-02-14.
  34. ^ "Leadership". Wisconsin College Republicans. Retrieved 2024-02-14.
  35. ^ http://www.wisgop.org/Events.aspx?Guid=00000000-0000-0000-0000-000000000000&passvar=5/1/2009 [dead link]
  36. ^ "2012 Republican Party of Wisconsin State Convention". Eventbrite. Retrieved 5 April 2018.

External links

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