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126-551: For many years, Wisconsin Republicans , led by political bosses such as Philetus Sawyer and Elisha W. Keyes , had carefully avoided antagonizing the German American population, since they had considerable support from German voters. However, in the 1888 state convention, the professionals were pushed aside and the party nominated William D. Hoard , a dairy farmer with no political experience, for governor. Hoard won

252-469: A gubernatorial recall election . The recalls gave the Democrats a brief senate majority in 2012, but it was lost to new senate maps in 2012. The main effect of the 2010 election, however, was that it allowed Republicans to control the redistricting process following the 2010 census. They used this power to draw a substantially gerrymandered map for the 2011–2021 decade—a gerrymander that

378-482: A right-to-work law , for which he gained significant national attention. After a brief stint running for president himself in 2015, Walker eventually endorsed Ted Cruz in the 2016 presidential race , in a bid to stop Donald Trump from getting the nomination. Cruz later won the 2016 Wisconsin Republican primary , though Walker later supported Trump after he clinched the party's nomination, and Trump went on to be

504-433: A state income tax , workers compensation , child labor laws and encouragement of cooperatives . Regardless of Davidson and McGovern's successes, La Follette ran his own loyal candidates against them, splitting the state's progressive Republicans and resulting in the 1912 election of the stalwarts' candidate Emanuel Philipp as governor. Despite campaigning on promises to dismantle progressive programs, Philipp proved to be

630-487: 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. Lawsuits were filed by Evers and various labor unions almost immediately after Walker signed the bills into law. 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

756-527: A Joint Resolution from the legislature to instruct Wisconsin's congressional delegation to oppose any expansion of slavery into new territories. But national Democratic policies continued to undermine those efforts, as the Compromise of 1850 and its Fugitive Slave Act component further inflamed anti-slavery sentiment in Wisconsin and other northern states. Anti-slavery emotion was further excited with

882-578: A bill to audit the status of compliance with the state's English language education requirements. The bill provoked a flood of opposition and was abandoned in the Senate. The namesake of the law, Michael John Bennett , was serving his second term in the State Assembly and had attended a conference in Chicago with educational leaders from various backgrounds to draft model legislation for educating

1008-616: A college education moved toward the Republican Party of Donald Trump, while suburban and college-educated voters fled that party. Margins shrank in old Republican strongholds in the suburbs around Milwaukee, and turnout soared in overwhelmingly Democratic college towns and overwhelmingly Republican rural communities. The Democratic Party of Wisconsin is a proponent of the Wisconsin Idea and includes centrists , conservatives , liberals , and progressives . Top issues for

1134-427: A compound name like Free Soil or Free Democrat, that it could be used as either a noun or an adjective, that it would remind people of Thomas Jefferson 's affiliation, and that it symbolized what he believed the new party should represent: " Res Publica ," synonymous with commonwealth . Bovay also believed that the name would attract immigrant voters that had recently fled monarchies . On February 26, 1854, Bovay sent

1260-638: A fault line within the party and the state in these early years. The Democrats initially thrived on their appeal to immigrant laborers, bolstered by language they had added to the Wisconsin Constitution which allowed new immigrants to quickly attain voting rights. Their principal opposition, however, the Whig Party , held more nativist positions and over time began exploiting the resentments between immigrants and non-immigrants and between Protestants and Catholics. This division also involved

1386-532: A few geographic power bases in Dane County, the city of Milwaukee, and in several of the counties along the eastern coast of the state. Despite being in the ideological minority, Wisconsin Democrats did take advantage of several controversies and Republican excesses to win significant state-wide elections during this period. Following the Panic of 1873 , Democrats allied with Liberal Republicans and members of

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1512-716: 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

1638-583: A majority of the Wisconsin State Senate and Wisconsin State Assembly in 1936. Their grip on power was short-lived, however, and they succumbed to a united Democratic and Republican front in 1938 which swept most of them out of office, including Philip. They were further crippled that year by attempting to expand the party to the national level. As the Progressives formed their own party, this allowed conservativism to increasingly dominate

1764-516: A moderate, leaving nearly all of the reforms intact. 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 Woodrow Wilson 's bill to arm merchant ships. La Follette's actions made him nationally notorious. After being misquoted in

1890-480: A national model for the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act in 1996. Following his initial election, Thompson would go on to win three more elections in the 1990s, each one by double digit margins, and would serve a record 14 years in office before leaving in 2001 to become U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services . The Republicans also won back control of the state legislature for

2016-512: A predominantly German-speaking city where an estimated 86 percent had foreign-born parents, Hoard attacked Germania and religion: We must fight alienism and selfish ecclesiasticism.... The parents, the pastors and the church have entered into a conspiracy to darken the understanding of the children, who are denied by cupidity and bigotry the privilege of even the free schools of the state. The Germans were incensed at Hoard's blatant attacks not only on their linguistic rights and culture but also on

2142-438: A process to implement remedial maps before the 2024 Wisconsin elections . As part of this process, governor Evers' remedial map was passed by the state legislature, with all but two Democrats voting against, on February 13, 2024. Said remedial maps were then signed by Evers on February 20, 2024. During this era, the party political coalitions were also shifting in Wisconsin and nationally, as rural voters and white voters without

2268-646: 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 re-elected in 2014 , Walker also signed

2394-443: A speech as having no grievances against Germany, he was abandoned by many of his longtime associates and later threatened with expulsion from the Senate. Gov. Philipp also opposed arming merchant ships and conscription , but after war was declared he administered the state's war effort, marshaled state resources and formed councils to conduct the draft, sell Liberty bonds , generate propaganda and stifle dissent . The war shattered

2520-785: 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 Elisha W. Keyes and others became known as the "Madison Regency." Randall later became President Andrew Johnson 's postmaster general , and with Keyes they steered federal patronage jobs to political allies and strengthened

2646-417: A traitorous Democratic Party. Nevertheless, the Republicans would continue to dominate Wisconsin government for the next six decades with few interruptions. Rublee ran a quiet campaign in the legislature for possible election as U.S. Senator, but after losing to Matthew H. Carpenter , Rublee was appointed by Grant minister to Switzerland in 1869. The party machinery was left in the hands of "Boss" Keyes. Yet

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2772-664: Is William Blathras, who is serving in his second term as Chair. 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. 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

2898-538: Is a list of Democratic statewide, federal, and legislative office holders as of January 7, 2019: Democrats hold two of Wisconsin's eight seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and one of Wisconsin's two seats in the U.S. Senate . Democrats have controlled Wisconsin's Class I seat in the U.S. Senate since 1957 : The Democratic Party of Wisconsin is a membership organization. Members are organized in 71 county Democratic parties in Wisconsin. Ashland and Bayfield counties are organized as

3024-630: Is commonly cited as the birth of the Republican Party in the United States due to it being the first publicized anti-slavery meeting to propose a new party with its name being Republican. Before the meeting in Ripon, an alliance existed between state Whigs , whose national party had weakened, and members of the Free Soil Party , with whom they formed a "people's ticket" as early as 1842. The coalition succeeded in electing

3150-460: The 1888 election and his inauguration coincided with the start of the 39th Wisconsin Legislature . One of his priorities for the session was reforms to Wisconsin's compulsory education and child labor laws. Technically, Wisconsin law already required English language instruction in schools, but the requirement was never enforced. Early in the session, state senator Levi Pond proposed

3276-656: The Archdiocese of Milwaukee and other parochial leaders, the Wisconsin Democrats , led by William F. Vilas took up the cause for German and other minority languages and nominated Milwaukee Mayor George Wilbur Peck for governor; neither man was an immigrant, VIlas having been born in Vermont and Pick in New York. Traditionally Democratic Irish Catholics were initially not as vigorous in opposition to

3402-532: The Bennett Law . The law was primarily concerned with raising the legal working age to 13 and mandating that parents and guardians must ensure children between age 7 and 14 were receiving at least 12 weeks of school per year. However, section 5 of the law became a massive controversy in the state as it defined "schools" as only those institutions which gave instruction in the English language . Wisconsin, at

3528-495: The English only movement . As opposition swelled, Hoard escalated to a defense of the public school system, which was not under attack: "The little schoolhouse—stand by it!" he cried out. Hoard ridiculed the state's German-Americans by claiming that he was a better guardian of their children's education than their parents or their clergymen. Hoard had counted votes and thought he had a winning coalition by whipping up nativist distrust of Germania as anti-American . In Milwaukee,

3654-598: The Free Soil Party along with members of the abolitionist Liberty Party . The Free Soil Party quickly found a foothold in southeastern Wisconsin, with a base of support from settlers who had arrived in Wisconsin from New England and New York. The splits significantly diminished the majority of the Democratic statewide vote, but left Democrats still in control of statewide offices. State Democrats were able to reclaim some Free Soil supporters and stave off further losses by publicly endorsing more free soil positions, such as

3780-677: The Granger movement to create a coalition known as the Reform Party . The coalition elected a majority of the Wisconsin Assembly in 1873 and elected Democrat William Robert Taylor in the 1873 Wisconsin gubernatorial election . They went on to enact the so-called "Potter Law", which created the Wisconsin Railroad Commission and enabled significant new regulation of the railroad industry. Later in

3906-547: The Industrial Age hailed a shift of Republican power away from Madison, to wealthy men like Philetus Sawyer of Oshkosh , whose lumber fortune would help fund the party and advance him from mayor to state legislator to congressman to U.S. senator. Milwaukee's Henry C. Payne rose from dry goods dealer to the Young Men's Republican Club, where he engineered a voter registration drive among the city's immigrants to vote

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4032-680: The Wisconsin Legislature and among the congressional delegations. Frays began to appear in the Democratic coalition, however, as national Democrats were seen as favoring Southern priorities over new states' priorities—such as federal spending for harbor and railroad improvements. These issues persisted through the presidencies of Democrats James K. Polk and Franklin Pierce as petitions from Wisconsin Democrats fell on deaf ears in Washington. Immigration would also become

4158-471: 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

4284-459: 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. Back at home,

4410-536: 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 Francis E. McGovern followed with an even more progressive program that resulted in

4536-600: The 1870s, as the Long Depression continued, the Greenback movement created another opportunity for Democrats to hold power in the state. The alliance between Democrats and Greenbackers in the 1878 Wisconsin Legislature led to the creation of the office of state insurance commissioner . In 1889, the Republican-dominated state legislature responded to labor agitation by passing what became known as

4662-405: The 2000s, following the departure of Thompson from the governorship and the later defeat of his lieutenant governor Scott McCallum by Democrat Jim Doyle in the 2002 election , Wisconsin remained in a state of divided government with the Republicans continuing to control the legislature. The new decade also saw the rise of a new generation of Republicans, including conservative Scott Walker , who

4788-422: The 2020 redistricting cycle began, Evers sought to gain support for a nonpartisan citizen redistricting commission, similar to a compromise plan utilized in the 1950s to break what had then been a long gridlock over the maps. Republicans, however, rejected the compromise and continued to pursue a maximalist approach. With the parties unable to compromise, the issue was sent to the courts. Democrats sought relief in

4914-495: The 21st century, Wisconsin was fairly evenly divided between Republican and Democratic parties, as both parties held statewide offices and at various times held control of one or both houses of the Legislature. This changed with the 2010 election when a national Republican wave helped elect a Republican Governor and Republican majorities in the Wisconsin Senate and Assembly. With full control of state government, one of

5040-650: 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 Wisconsin delegation to the 1860 Republican convention backed Senator William Seward for president, but quickly supported Abraham Lincoln once his nomination appeared inevitable. Following

5166-544: 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

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5292-556: The La Follette family and their political allies, and certain radical farm and labor groups active in Wisconsin at the time. In 1934 Philip to run for re-election as Governor of Wisconsin and Robert ran for re-election to the United States Senate . Both men were successful in their bids, and the party saw a number of other victories as well in the 1934 and 1936 election, notably winning several U.S. House seats and

5418-470: The Philipp and La Follette forces separately supported John Blaine , the former mayor of Boscobel and a La Follette progressive. 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. But with the end of the war, factions within

5544-741: The Republican Party of Wisconsin is the Wisconsin College Republicans , a member group of the College Republicans of America (CRA) . 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 . The current Chairman of the Wisconsin College Republicans

5670-417: 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

5796-517: The Republican Party. The Progressive Party would continue to have an increasingly diminishing influence at the state level until the mid-1940s when members of the party voted to dissolve the party and Robert M. La Follette Jr was defeated by Joe McCarthy in the Republican primary for senate in 1946. Following World War II many progressives were either defeated by or joined the Democratic Party. Conservatives increasingly began to dominate

5922-534: The Republican ticket. In 1876 Payne was appointed Milwaukee's postmaster, a powerful source of patronage jobs. He later became wealthy as a manager of banks, utilities and railroads. 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

6048-422: 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

6174-502: The Republicans' first acts was the controversial 2011 Wisconsin Act 10 , the "budget repair bill" which stripped collective bargaining rights from public employee unions. Following mass protests in the state capital, Democratic senators fled the state in an attempt to deny a quorum and slow down the passage of the bill. The attempt ultimately failed, but the controversy led to two years ( 2011 & 2012 ) of senate recall elections, and

6300-829: The Socialist Party surpassed the Democratic party in legislative representation for several years in the early 20th century. The Republicans' tight control of Wisconsin politics lasted until the late 1940s, when the Wisconsin Progressive Party began to collapse and many of the remaining progressives fled to the Democratic Party. This was facilitated in the creation of the Democratic Organizing Committee, which brought together young liberals and former progressives, such as like Gaylord Nelson , James Edward Doyle , Horace W. Wilkie , and Fred A. Risser . The new coalition brought

6426-504: 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

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6552-490: The Wisconsin Supreme Court complied with the Republican Party's request and took up the case. After a messy process, the court ultimately selected a Republican plan, in a 4–3 vote along ideological lines, which changed very little from the 2011 map. Under the new map, Republicans expanded their already-substantial legislative majorities and reached a supermajority in the Wisconsin Senate. A year after

6678-591: The anniversary of the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 that had banned slavery in the Northwest Territory . Other Wisconsin editors concurred and publicized the convention. 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

6804-479: The anti-slavery components of the Missouri Compromise , was the final straw for anti-slavery northerners. The 1855 gubernatorial election was tainted by more accusations of corruption and fraud and ultimately had to be settled by the state Supreme Court, where Democrat Edward G. Ryan took a leading role in prosecuting the case against Democratic Governor William Barstow. Democratic voting power in

6930-445: The appropriation of new lands from Native American populations and the distribution of those lands to new settlers—bolstered Democratic politicians and helped to establish a durable voter base in the new territories. The early Democratic Party in Wisconsin was also seen as championing property, trade, and economic policies which favored the lead mining, fur trading , and lumber harvesting laborers who were coming to populate

7056-483: The arrest of Milwaukee abolitionist newspaper publisher Sherman Booth , who had led a mob to free Joshua Glover in defiance of the Fugitive Slave Act. By 1853, internal factions were publicly lobbing accusations of corruption at fellow Democrats. Most notably Wisconsin circuit court judge Levi Hubbell was impeached at the instigation of fellow Democrat Edward G. Ryan , and William A. Barstow , who

7182-495: 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 Panic of 1873 , when a reform coalition of Democrats, Grangers and Liberal Republicans elected Democrat William Taylor as governor. Immigrant backlash against Republican-supported temperance legislation

7308-623: The chief justice of the state supreme court, a Milwaukee mayor and aldermen. Many Wisconsin Democrats were also opposed to the Kansas–Nebraska bill, which not only would leave the question of slavery in the territories up to popular sovereignty , but as originally amended would also deny immigrants the right to vote or hold public office. The bill was roundly condemned in the Wisconsin press, as editors such as Horace Rublee ( Wisconsin State Journal ), Rufus King ( Milwaukee Sentinel ) and Sherman Booth ( Waukesha Free Democrat ) encouraged

7434-445: 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 watergate scandal , Republican successes in Wisconsin began to diminish significantly. In 1976, the state voted for Democrat Jimmy Carter to become president, and by

7560-524: The federal district courts, which had handled redistricting in Wisconsin in 1982, 1992, and 2002, when the state had previously failed to reach a legislative compromise. Republicans sought help from the 4–3 conservative Wisconsin Supreme Court , which had not heard a redistricting case since 1964, and had said as recently as 2002 that they lacked the proper constitutional, legal, or procedural tools to handle redistricting. Despite that history,

7686-430: 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, infrastructure, and a deal his administration made with Taiwanese company Foxconn in 2017 to create jobs in

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7812-476: The first time in over twenty years in the " Republican Revolution " of 1994, giving the party a governing trifecta for the first time since 1970. In spite of these gains however, the party continued to struggle with elections to federal offices, namely elections to the U.S. Senate. Following Republican 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

7938-518: 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. The organizer of the meeting that gave birth to America's Republican Party

8064-431: The general election. 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, Philip La Follette and Robert M. La Follette, Jr. established the Wisconsin Progressive Party which was an alliance between the longstanding "Progressive" faction of the Republican Party of Wisconsin, led by

8190-399: The governorship, ending unified Democratic control of the state. Later in 1980, Wisconsin voted for Reagan in his successful presidential bid, and conservative Robert W. Kasten Jr. unseated three-term incumbent Democrat Gaylord Nelson in the state's election for U.S. Senate . With a faltering state economy and rising budget deficit, Dreyfus chose not to seek a second term in 1982 , and

8316-800: The independence of private religious schools violates the First Amendment to the United States Constitution . Wisconsin Republican Party 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. The state party is divided into 72 county parties for each of

8442-401: The independence of their religious schools, which had been set up and funded by the parents in order to inculcate their community's religious values, from control by the state . Furthermore, Hoard's insistence that the state could legally intervene in the internal affairs of families and church denominations and would now dictate which language students at private schools could speak and learn in

8568-550: The issue of prohibition , which was supported by a majority of the Wisconsin voting population in a nonbinding referendum in 1853, but was anathema to immigrant populations. The issue of slavery further exacerbated internal Democratic Party divisions as national Democrats pushed policies to abolish the Wilmot Proviso and allow for the establishment of slavery in new U.S. states and territories. A formal split occurred in 1848, as anti-slavery Democrats broke off and formed

8694-414: The late 1970s, the Republicans had been completely shut out of power at both the state and federal levels of government, with the Democrats controlling all statewide executive offices and holding a supermajority in the Wisconsin state legislature. During this time, more conservative factions of the party started to grow in power, with the moderates becoming increasingly irrelevant. This trend eventually led to

8820-485: 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. 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")

8946-535: The law, which defined a "school" as an institution which utilized only the English language for instructions on reading, writing, math, and U.S. history. The backlash began shortly after the law was published. Governor Hoard doubled down on his position and attempted to mobilize the English-speaking population of the state for his reelection bid in 1890 by insisting that the state must embrace and enforce

9072-579: The law, with a substantial section of the community even supporting it, as Hoard had hoped. However, the outpouring of militantly anti-Catholic rhetoric by Hoard and many of the law's supporters alienated a majority of the Irish in Wisconsin, prompting the top Irish newspaper in the state, the Chippewa Falls -based Catholic Citizen , to write that the Bennett Law represented a convergence of "all

9198-476: The leader of an insurgent movement to wrest control of the party from the stalwart machine. La Follette had backed other anti-machine Republicans for governor before first running for the office in 1896. He campaigned on a platform of election reform and corporate accountability while accusing the stalwarts of bribery. After being elected governor on his third attempt in 1900, he spent his three terms fighting for primary elections and taxation of corporations based on

9324-407: The legislature for the first time since 1854. The Legislative majorities also coincided with the expiration of Senate terms, which allowed them to choose two Democrats to represent Wisconsin in the U.S. Senate. But as quickly as the Democratic majorities appeared, they evaporated with the Panic of 1893 and the resulting inter-party feuding over silver currency . Edward S. Bragg , who was one of

9450-439: The map decision, however, the 2023 Wisconsin Supreme Court election flipped the Wisconsin Supreme Court's majority from 4–3 conservative to 4–3 liberal. The legislative gerrymander was often discussed during the 2023 campaign, and after the election, Democrat-aligned groups promised to revisit the redistricting case in the state court. The controversy over the maps led to threats from legislative Republicans to impeach

9576-403: The most prominent and influential Wisconsin Democrats of the late 19th century, famously quit the party after the nomination of William Jennings Bryan in 1896 and went on to become a supporter of Robert La Follette , Theodore Roosevelt , and the rising Progressive wing in the Republican Party. Between 1894 and 1932, no Democratic candidate for Governor of Wisconsin received more than 42% of

9702-422: The new territory. This was the base of early Democrats such as Territorial Governor Henry Dodge . The party continued to expand with the industrialization of cities along the rivers and coasts of Wisconsin and the growth of the urban workforce. The Democratic Party dominated the first decade of state government, winning 25 of the first 30 elections for statewide partisan offices, while holding large majorities in

9828-506: The newest justice, Janet Protasiewicz , but after finding little popular or legal support for their impeachment threat, they backed down. A new challenge to the gerrymander was launched on August 2, 2023, a day after the start of the new court term. In December 2023, the Wisconsin Supreme Court ruled in the case, Clarke v. Wisconsin Elections Commission , saying the state legislative maps were unconstitutional and scheduled

9954-530: The outbreak of the 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 Lucius Fairchild , who had lost an arm at Gettysburg , were the perfect spokesmen for the party. Fairchild later became

10080-478: The party at all levels of government. In the 2008 elections, this had the effect of allowing Democrat Barack Obama to carry the state by a landslide margin in the presidential election over Republican John McCain , and shutting Republicans completely out of power in state government for the first time since 1986 (with the exception of the state's Attorney General position, which was still held by Republican J.B. Van Hollen ). The Republican party of Wisconsin and

10206-539: The party began to re-assert themselves, and a second wave of progressives returned to power. La Follette was decisively re-elected senator in 1922, and two years later he ran for president on a Progressive Party ticket against President Calvin Coolidge . He received every sixth vote cast nationally, but only carried Wisconsin. He died in 1925, but the La Follette name and his brand of Republicanism were carried on by his two sons. Robert La Follette, Jr. defeated Wilcox in

10332-471: The party include support for workers and unions, strong public education, and environmental protection. Since the 2010 passage of the Affordable Care Act , Wisconsin Democrats have prioritized fully expanding Medicaid in the state, a policy that Republicans have blocked. Democrats hold all statewide offices in Wisconsin except 1 U.S. Senate seat and the state Treasurer's office. The following

10458-461: The party paid its expenses, $ 2.3 million was paid to the hackers rather than to the actual vendors to whom it was owed. 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. Additionally, Republicans gained three seats in

10584-431: 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

10710-439: The party, creating the Wisconsin Progressive Party . Nationally, progressive policies were also ascendant with the masses, and were adopted by prominent Republicans like Theodore Roosevelt and then by Democrats like Franklin D. Roosevelt . The Democratic Party was nearly relegated to third party status in the state during the early 20th century as Republicans and Progressives were stronger competitors for state offices, and even

10836-537: The platform and nominating officers from all three major parties. 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

10962-481: 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

11088-402: The popular vote in State Assembly elections, they won only 42% of the State Senate seats and only 36% of Assembly seats. After Donald Trump 's upset victory in the 2016 United States presidential election —when he became the first Republican in 28 years to win Wisconsin's 10 electoral votes—Wisconsin returned to the Democratic column in the 2020 presidential election , and Wisconsin

11214-565: The rise of Lee S. Dreyfus , who ran for governor as a Republican in 1978 . Dreyfus, a party outsider who had become fearful of a one-party system after a visit to communist China , and ran because he believed Wisconsin was at risk of becoming a one-party state under the Democrats, moved the Republicans in a fiscal conservative direction, echoing the national trend that occurred with the rise of Ronald Reagan . Dreyfus's fiscal conservatism and populist sentiments, while still remaining generally moderate on social issues, would ultimately lead him to win

11340-463: The same forces were at work to produce a Democratic win. The law was repealed in 1891, but Democratic Party used its memory to carry Wisconsin and Illinois in the 1892 United States presidential election . It was the last major attack on education using the German language until 1914. In the 1925 case Pierce v. Society of Sisters , the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that attacks by the government against

11466-476: 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. On June 9 Sherman Booth repeated the call for a mass convention in Madison, and suggested July 13,

11592-467: The sectarian, bigoted, fanatical and crazy impurities" within the Republican Party and which had now taken the reins of power. The Germans, for their part, organized thoroughly and supported Peck. Combined with popular reaction against the new McKinley Tariff , the result was a major victory for the Democratic Party in Wisconsin, the first in decades. The Edwards law was a similar law in Illinois , where

11718-618: 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

11844-414: 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 Democrats . Several Republican governors were elected during this time, most prominently 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

11970-559: The state continued to wane as Republicans won full control of the Legislature in 1856 and retained the governorship in 1857 . By the time the American Civil War started, Republicans held every statewide partisan office. The Civil War further split the state Democratic Party between War Democrats and Peace Democrats . Despite a strong showing by Democratic candidates in the 1862 congressional elections , Republicans continued to hold full power over state government throughout

12096-490: 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. 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

12222-526: The state in exchange for around $ 4.5 billion in taxpayer subsidies, 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, 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

12348-603: The state legislature despite losing the overall statewide vote, which some people have attributed to gerrymandering that took place following the 2010 elections. 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 . The bills were widely denounced by Democrats and others as

12474-446: The state legislature to elect the country's first Republican senator, Charles Durkee . 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

12600-494: 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 1986 , the party's candidate for governor Tommy Thompson successfully unseated one-term incumbent Anthony Earl by a wide margin. Having campaigned on a conservative platform, during his time in office Thompson become most well known for his welfare reform efforts, which would later serve as

12726-520: The state party conventions held in odd numbered years. The current leadership terms expire in July 2025. During Wisconsin's territory years , Jacksonian democracy was dominant and, thanks largely to Andrew Jackson 's reputation and presidency, the Democratic Party was seen as the party of the common man. State and federal Democrats shared a claim of opposing the "money power" of eastern wealth and central banks, and other Jacksonian policies—such as

12852-453: The state party include support for workers and unions, strong public education, and environmental protection. Since the 2010 passage of the Affordable Care Act , Wisconsin Democrats have prioritized fully expanding Medicaid in the state, a policy that Republicans have blocked. It currently controls two of Wisconsin's eight U.S. House seats, one of its U.S. Senate seats, and the governorship . Party leaders are elected to two year terms at

12978-410: The state party more in line with the progressive policies of the national party. The Democrats won their first major victory when William Proxmire was elected in the late 1950s. Wisconsin in the 1980s and 1990s was characterized by competitive two-party politics for control of the governorship, other state constitutional offices, the state legislature, and U.S. Senate seats. In the first decade of

13104-482: The state was facing at the time. Protests soon erupted however over a measure in the budget known as Act 10, which was set to limit collective bargaining rights of public employees in the state. After signing the budget and Act 10 into law, Walker and several other Republicans, including State Senate majority leader Scott Fitzgerald , were faced with recall efforts. This eventually led to a 2012 recall election against Walker, where he defeated his opponent from 2010 in

13230-681: The state's counties, as well as organizations for the state's eight congressional districts . It currently controls the majority of Wisconsin's U.S. House seats, one of its U.S. Senate seats, and has supermajorites in both houses of the state legislature . After the introduction in Congress of the Kansas–Nebraska bill in January 1854, many meetings were held in protest across the country. The meeting held in Ripon, Wisconsin on March 20, 1854,

13356-471: The state's new Republican Party. 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

13482-422: The state's technically nonpartisan judicial elections. It was considered a failure when the Democratic Party could not field a liberal candidate in the 2017 Wisconsin Supreme Court election , but they redoubled their efforts in the subsequent years and supported liberal candidates to victory in supreme court elections in 2018 and 2020, bringing the ideological divide down to 4–3 in favor of conservatives. As

13608-404: The state-wide vote, and Republicans routinely held super-majority control of both chambers of the Legislature. Democrats won only 1 state-wide election during that forty year stretch, when Paul O. Husting won the 1914 election for United States Senate. The Republicans led by La Follette, and later by his sons, employed many progressive policies in the state of Wisconsin but led to a split within

13734-404: 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 his first budget which he stated was designed to fix the billion dollar budget deficit that

13860-598: 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. Wisconsin Democrats The Democratic Party of Wisconsin is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Wisconsin . It is currently headed by chair Ben Wikler . Important issues for

13986-465: The time, still contained a large number of schools which gave instructions in German, Polish, and Scandinavian languages. The backlash against the Bennett Law unified disparate cultural, religious, and ideological factions of Wisconsin's German, Scandinavian, Irish, Polish, and Catholic communities, and fueled massive Democratic wave elections in 1890 and 1892. Democrats won all state-wide offices in those years and sustained majorities in both chambers of

14112-614: 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,

14238-607: The vote. The 2011 RPW convention was held May 20–22 in Wisconsin Dells . The convention was held at Glacier Canyon Lodge at the Wilderness. The 2012 RPW Convention was held May 11–13 at the KI Convention Center in downtown Green Bay . The convention will begin the final push for the Republican defense of the 2012 Recall Election of Governor Scott Walker . The Wisconsin Republican Party controls

14364-502: The war. Democrats would only hold the governorship for 8 of the next 100 years. Republicans dominated statewide politics in Wisconsin through much of the post-war 19th century, and cultivated special interests in railroads, the lumber industry, and unionized labor. Their political power in the state was further enhanced with their ability to deliver significant funding from the Republican-dominated federal government for projects in Wisconsin. Democrats in these years were mostly limited to

14490-399: The youth and ending child labor. The bulk of the Bennett Law dealt with raising the legal working age to 13 and requiring parents and caregivers to ensure that any child between the ages of 7 and 14 was receiving at least 12 weeks of schooling per year. Due to its mostly non-controversial nature, the law passed quickly almost without any debate. The problematic portion occurred in section 5 of

14616-418: Was New York state native Alvan Earle Bovay , a lawyer and mathematics teacher at Ripon College . In 1852 Bovay traveled to New York City during the national Whig Party convention and met with old friend and New York Tribune editor Horace Greeley . Bovay suggested the name "Republican" for a new anti-slavery party that would replace the fading Whigs. He favored it because it was a simple word rather than

14742-519: Was again identified as one of the most evenly-divided states in the country. With the state's legislative gerrymander looming large, the party focused on a strategy to replace the map and reform the redistricting process. A major push in the federal courts to try to get a ruling against partisan gerrymandering was defeated by the United States Supreme Court , which ruled in the case Gill v. Whitford that partisan gerrymandering

14868-494: 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 Jeremiah Rusk of Viroqua proved a popular Republican governor during his three terms (1882–1889). A farmer, Rusk supported measures that improved the state's agriculture, such as university-run experimental farms. He

14994-416: 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. Following three terms as a stand-pat Republican congressman from Madison, Robert M. La Follette emerged as

15120-604: Was considered intolerable. By June 1890, the state's main German-speaking Lutheran denominations, the Missouri Synod and the Wisconsin Synod , had denounced the law. German-American Roman Catholic priests also denounced the law; Father Johann B. Reindl of Oshkosh referred to it as "unjust and a blow at the German people". After strong lobbying by Catholic Archbishop Frederick Katzer of

15246-427: Was first elected as Milwaukee County Executive in 2002. Wisconsin politics in the 2000s was partly dominated by the presidency of George W. Bush . This has the effect of benefitting Republicans early on, however as Bush's approval ratings sank in the latter part of the decade, largely due to his perceived lackluster response to Hurricane Katrina and the increasingly costly Iraq War , Wisconsin voters began to turn on

15372-432: Was followed by that of another Republican farmer, 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

15498-644: Was frequently cited as the worst or one of the worst in the country. Under the maps implemented by the Republican redistricting law (2011 Wisconsin Act 43) Democrats have not been able to win more than 43% of either the State Assembly or Senate. In 2018, Democrats swept all statewide offices, electing Tony Evers as Governor, Mandela Barnes as Lieutenant Governor, Josh Kaul as Attorney General, Sarah Godlewski as State Treasurer, and reelecting Doug La Follette as Secretary of State, while also reelecting United States Senator Tammy Baldwin . Despite this substantial victory, where Democrats received more than 52% of

15624-598: Was later appointed the country's first Secretary of Agriculture by president Benjamin Harrison . In 1886, he issued the "shoot to kill" order to the National Guard in response to widespread May Day strikes in Milwaukee, resulting in the Bay View Tragedy that left seven people dead. Despite the loss of life, Rusk's decision was applauded in state newspapers as well as nationally. Rusk's administration

15750-426: Was not judiciable by federal courts. With no remaining hope of striking down the 2011 gerrymander, the party then turned its attention to the 2020 redistricting cycle, where state legislative Republicans would either have to make a deal with Governor Evers on a new map, or let the issue go back to the courts for a remedial solution. In the intervening years, the state political parties had become increasingly active in

15876-416: Was seeking the Democratic nomination for Governor in 1853, was accused of having accepted bribes while in office as Secretary of State. Despite the internal divisions, Barstow won the governorship and Wisconsin Democrats were able to maintain power in the state until anti-slavery factions finally coalesced with northern Whigs into the new Republican Party in 1854. The Kansas–Nebraska Act , which repealed

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