Jackson "Jack" Lee (April 8, 1920 – June 10, 2014) was an American radio broadcaster and politician . In 1971, Lee became the first Republican Mayor of Fayetteville, North Carolina , of the 20th Century. He served as the city's Mayor for two consecutive, two-year terms from 1971 to 1975. Lee was also elected Chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party in April 1977. He is widely credited with unifying the state Republican Party during his tenure as chairman.
98-603: The North Carolina Republican Party ( NCGOP ) is the affiliate of the Republican Party in North Carolina . Michael Whatley was the chair from 2019 until his election as national chair in March 2024. It is currently the state's dominant party, controlling half of North Carolina's U.S. House seats, both U.S. Senate seats, and a 3/5 supermajority control of both chambers of the state legislature , as well as
196-472: A landslide . While the election was nonpartisan, Lee made history by becoming Fayetteville's first Republican mayor of the 20th Century. U.S. President Richard Nixon appointed Mayor Lee to a national education council in 1973. Lee was re-elected to a second, two-year term as Mayor in 1973. However, he declined to seek re-election in 1975. Lee was succeeded by Democrat Beth Finch , who became Fayetteville's first female mayor. Jack Lee focused on joining
294-431: A poll tax and an educational qualification (to be assessed by a registrar, which meant that it could be subjectively applied), and lengthened the residence period required before registration. A grandfather clause exempted from the poll tax those entitled to vote on January 1, 1867, which limited exemptions to white men. These barriers to voter registration caused a dramatic drop in the number of African-American voters in
392-618: A broader nationalist message. His election accelerated the Republican Party's shift towards right-wing populism and resulted in decreasing influence among its conservative factions. After the 2016 elections , Republicans maintained their majority in the Senate , the House , and governorships , and wielded newly acquired executive power with Trump's election. The Republican Party controlled 69 of 99 state legislative chambers in 2017,
490-558: A large majority of the Democratic Party's upper and middle-class support. McKinley defeated Bryan and returned the presidency to Republican control until the 1912 presidential election . The 1896 realignment cemented the Republicans as the party of big businesses while president Theodore Roosevelt added more small business support by his embrace of trust busting . He handpicked his successor William Howard Taft in
588-794: A majority on the state supreme court . Although Republicans first nominated a candidate for President of the United States, John C. Fremont , in 1856, the party was not established in North Carolina until 1867, after the American Civil War . With the help of the newly enfranchised freedmen , Republicans were briefly successful in state politics, dominating the convention that wrote the Constitution of North Carolina of 1868 and electing several governors. After Reconstruction , Democrats returned to power, often suppressing
686-418: A number of Republicans and conservative thought leaders questioning whether Trump should continue as the party's main figurehead and leader. Despite this, Trump easily won the nomination to be the party's candidate again in the 2024 presidential election . Trump achieved a decisive victory against Democratic nominee Kamala Harris , winning every swing state and the popular vote, while the Republicans held
784-544: A reduction of the national debt and federal budget deficit through decreased government spending . The Tea Party movement was also described as a popular constitutional movement composed of a mixture of libertarian , right-wing populist , and conservative activism. The Tea Party movement's electoral success began with Scott Brown 's upset win in the January Senate special election in Massachusetts ;
882-527: A treaty annexing Hawaii before Cleveland could be inaugurated. Most Republicans supported the proposed annexation, but Cleveland opposed it. In the 1896 presidential election , Republican William McKinley 's platform supported the gold standard and high tariffs, having been the creator and namesake for the McKinley Tariff of 1890. Though having been divided on the issue prior to that year's National Convention , McKinley decided to heavily favor
980-560: A winner at the end of election day. Voter suppression in the South gave Republican-controlled returning officers enough of a reason to declare that fraud, intimidation and violence had soiled the states' results. They proceeded to throw out enough Democratic votes for Republican Rutherford B. Hayes to be declared the winner. Democrats refused to accept the results and the Electoral Commission made up of members of Congress
1078-483: The 1980 United States presidential election . The Reagan presidency , lasting from 1981 to 1989, constituted what is known as " the Reagan Revolution ". It was seen as a fundamental shift from the stagflation of the 1970s, with the introduction of Reagan's economic policies intended to cut taxes, prioritize government deregulation and shift funding from the domestic sphere into the military to check
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#17328024179471176-466: The 2022 elections confident and with analysts predicting a red wave , but it ultimately underperformed expectations, with voters in swing states and competitive districts joining Democrats in rejecting candidates who had been endorsed by Trump or who had denied the results of the 2020 election. The party won control of the House with a narrow majority, but lost the Senate and several state legislative majorities and governorships. The results led to
1274-558: The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 . White conservatives first voted for Republican presidential candidates. From 1968 through 2004, the majority of North Carolina voters supported Republicans in every presidential election, except 1976, when favorite son Democrat Jimmy Carter was elected from Georgia. When they re-entered the political system, African Americans shifted their alliance from
1372-546: The Coinage Act of 1873 , as a solution to the depressed American economy in the aftermath of that year's panic . Ahead of the 1880 presidential election , both James G. Blaine and opponent John Sherman failed to win the Republican nomination; each then backed James A. Garfield for president. Garfield won the 1880 presidential election, but was assassinated early in his term . His death helped create support for
1470-635: The Court of International Trade by the time he left office, shifting the court system to the right . Other notable achievements during his presidency included the passing of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in 2017; the creation of the U.S. Space Force , the first new independent military service since 1947; and the brokering of the Abraham Accords , a series of normalization agreements between Israel and various Arab states . The second half of his term
1568-562: The Federal Communications Commission 's director of legislative affairs. Lee returned to radio after retiring from politics, working at radio stations in coastal North Carolina during the 1980s and 1990s. However, he continued to work as a radio sales representative into his 80s. He eventually moved to New Mexico to be closer to his family. Jack Lee died in Farmington, New Mexico , on June 10, 2014, at
1666-530: The Great Depression . He was joined in 1962 by Jim Broyhill . From this base, and nearly winning the electoral votes for the state in the Presidential elections from 1952 to 1960, the party began to grow. As in other southern states, in the late 20th century, white conservatives began to shift from the Democratic Party to the Republican one, especially after national Democratic leaders supported
1764-544: The Iraq War . In the 2008 presidential election , Arizona Republican senator John McCain was defeated by Illinois Democratic senator Barack Obama . The Republicans experienced electoral success in the 2010 elections . The 2010 elections coincided with the ascendancy of the Tea Party movement , an anti-Obama protest movement of fiscal conservatives . Members of the movement called for lower taxes , and for
1862-653: The Kansas–Nebraska Act , which repealed the Missouri Compromise and opened the Kansas and Nebraska Territories to slavery and future admission as slave states. They denounced the expansion of slavery as a great evil, but did not call for complete abolition , including in the Southern states. While opposition to the expansion of slavery was the most consequential founding principle of the party, like
1960-574: The North Carolina House of Representatives and in the North Carolina Senate . Republicans also hold both of the state's U.S. Senate seats and 7 of the state's 14 U.S. House seats. Republicans have controlled both of North Carolina's seats in the U.S. Senate since 2014 : Out of the 14 seats North Carolina is apportioned in the U.S. House of Representatives , 7 are held by Republicans: Republicans control six of
2058-537: The Pendleton Civil Service Reform Act , which was passed in 1883; the bill was signed into law by Republican president Chester A. Arthur , who succeeded Garfield. In 1884, Blaine won the Republican presidential nomination, but lost the general election to Democrat Grover Cleveland . Cleveland was the first Democrat to be elected president since James Buchanan. Dissident Republicans, known as Mugwumps , had defected from Blaine due to
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#17328024179472156-470: The Pew Research Center found that social conservatives and free market advocates remained the other two main groups within the party's coalition of support, with all three being roughly equal in number. However, libertarians and libertarian-leaning conservatives increasingly found fault with what they saw as Republicans' restricting of vital civil liberties while corporate welfare and
2254-496: The Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act (commonly known as House Bill 2 or HB2), described at the time as the most anti-LGBT legislation in the United States. It eliminated anti-discrimination protections for gay , transgender , and intersex people and forbids cities to re-establish such protections. It also required people who enter government buildings to use only the restrooms that correspond to
2352-577: The Second New Deal , saying it represented class warfare and socialism . Roosevelt was easily re-elected president in 1936 ; however, as his second term began, the economy declined , strikes soared, and he failed to take control of the Supreme Court and purge the Southern conservatives from the Democratic Party. Republicans made a major comeback in the 1938 House elections . Southern conservatives joined with most Republicans to form
2450-815: The Soviet Union by utilizing deterrence theory . During a visit to then- West Berlin in June 1987, he addressed Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev during a speech at the Berlin Wall , demanding that he " Tear down this wall! ". The remark was later seen as influential in the fall of the wall in 1989, and was retroactively seen as a defining achievement. The Soviet Union was dissolved in 1991 . Following Reagan's presidency, Republican presidential candidates frequently claimed to share Reagan's views and aimed to portray themselves and their policies as heirs to his legacy. Reagan's vice president, George H. W. Bush , won
2548-564: The Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution —which banned slavery, except as punishment for a crime—was ratified in 1865. Following the assassination of Lincoln , Johnson ascended to the presidency. Johnson was vitriolic in his criticisms of the Radical Republicans during a national tour ahead of the 1866 elections . Anti-Johnson Republicans won a two-thirds majority in both chambers of Congress following
2646-764: The University of Nebraska . He then served in the United States Army Air Corps in the Pacific Theater during World War II . Lee moved to Delaware after the war, where he initially worked as a reporter for radio stations in the Delaware Beaches region. He rose to become a radio station manager. In 1960, Lee purchased WFAI-AM (present-day WFAY ), a radio station in Fayetteville, North Carolina. He moved to
2744-629: The World Trade Organization . Bush lost his re-election bid in 1992 . While there is debate about whether Perot's candidacy cost Bush re-election, Charlie Cook asserted that Perot's messaging carried weight with Republican and conservative voters. In the 1994 elections , the Republican Party, led by House minority whip Newt Gingrich , who campaigned on the " Contract with America ", won majorities in both chambers of Congress, gained 12 governorships, and regained control of 20 state legislatures . The Republican Party won control of
2842-514: The conservative coalition , which dominated domestic issues in Congress until 1964. By the time of World War II , both parties split on foreign policy issues, with the anti-war isolationists dominant in the Republican Party and the interventionists dominant in the Democratic Party. Roosevelt won a third term in 1940 and a fourth in 1944 . Conservatives abolished most of the New Deal during
2940-609: The large-scale corruption present in the Grant administration , with the emerging Stalwart faction defending Grant and the spoils system , and the Half-Breeds advocating reform of the civil service . Republicans who opposed Grant branched off to form the Liberal Republican Party , nominating Horace Greeley in the 1872 presidential election . The Democratic Party attempted to capitalize on this divide in
3038-471: The planter class became alarmed at the threat to the future of slavery in the United States. With the 1860 election of Abraham Lincoln , the first Republican president, the Southern states seceded from the United States. Under the leadership of Lincoln and a Republican Congress, the Republican Party led the fight to defeat the Confederate States in the American Civil War , thereby preserving
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3136-595: The 1776 republican values of civic virtue and opposition to aristocracy and corruption. "Republican" has a variety of meanings around the world, and the Republican Party has evolved such that the meanings no longer always align. Jack Lee (politician) Lee was born on April 8, 1920, in Fremont, Nebraska . His father, Earl Lee , served as a member of the Nebraska Legislature for fourteen years. Jack Lee received his bachelor's degree in 1941 from
3234-518: The 1908 election , but they became enemies as the party split down the middle. Taft defeated Roosevelt for the 1912 nomination . Roosevelt ran on the ticket of his new Progressive Party . He called for social reforms , many of which were later championed by New Deal Democrats in the 1930s. He lost and when most of his supporters returned to the GOP, they found they did not agree with the new conservative economic thinking , leading to an ideological shift to
3332-411: The 1960s era of civil rights legislation, enacted by Democrats, the South became more reliably Republican, and Richard Nixon carried 49 states in the 1972 election , with what he touted as his " silent majority ". The 1980 election of Ronald Reagan realigned national politics, bringing together advocates of free-market economics, social conservatives , and Cold War foreign policy hawks under
3430-538: The Democrats, whom they saw as the party of bloated, secular, and liberal government. This period saw the rise of "pro-government conservatives"—a core part of the Bush's base—a considerable group of the Republicans who advocated for increased government spending and greater regulations covering both the economy and people's personal lives, as well as for an activist and interventionist foreign policy. Survey groups such as
3528-556: The GOP and he proved unable to shift the party to a more moderate position. Historians cite the 1964 presidential election and its respective National Convention as a significant shift, which saw the conservative wing, helmed by Arizona senator Barry Goldwater , battle liberal New York governor Nelson Rockefeller and his eponymous Rockefeller Republican faction for the nomination. With Goldwater poised to win, Rockefeller, urged to mobilize his liberal faction, retorted, "You're looking at it, buddy. I'm all that's left." Following
3626-406: The GOP by co-nominating Greeley under their party banner. Greeley's positions proved inconsistent with the Liberal Republican Party that nominated him, with Greeley supporting high tariffs despite the party's opposition. Grant was easily re-elected. The 1876 presidential election saw a contentious conclusion as both parties claimed victory despite three southern states not officially declaring
3724-597: The GOP cooperated with Truman's Cold War foreign policy, funded the Marshall Plan and supported NATO , despite the continued isolationism of the Old Right. Eisenhower had defeated conservative leader senator Robert A. Taft for the 1952 Republican presidential nomination , but conservatives dominated the domestic policies of the Eisenhower administration . Voters liked Eisenhower much more than they liked
3822-520: The House and retook control of the Senate, thus delivering a Republican trifecta . Trump significantly improved his vote share among almost all demographics nationwide, particularly among Hispanic voters, in a working class coalition described as the most racially diverse for a Republican presidential candidate in decades. As of 2024, the GOP holds a majority in the U.S. House of Representatives . It also holds 27 state governorships , 28 state legislatures , and 23 state government trifectas . Six of
3920-504: The House of Representatives for the first time in 40 years , and won a majority of U.S. House seats in the South for the first time since Reconstruction. However, most voters had not heard of the Contract and the Republican victory was attributed to traditional mid-term anti-incumbent voting and Republicans becoming the majority party in the South for the first time since Reconstruction, winning many former Southern Democrats . Gingrich
4018-660: The North Carolina Republican Party censured Senator Richard Burr after he voted to impeach Donald Trump for his role in inciting a pro-Trump mob to storm the U.S. Capitol . The next month, the party did not censure House Representative Madison Cawthorn amid numerous accusations of sexual harassment, as well as exposure of false and baseless claims that he had made about himself. In 2016, North Carolina Republicans passed laws to order transgender people to use bathrooms according to their sex assigned at birth . On March 23, 2016, Governor McCrory signed
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4116-536: The Republican House's legislative agenda if he were to serve as speaker. Illinois representative Dennis Hastert was promoted to speaker in Livingston's place, serving in that position until 2007. Republican George W. Bush won the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections . He campaigned as a " compassionate conservative " in 2000, wanting to better appeal to immigrants and minority voters. The goal
4214-421: The Republican Party lost seven seats in the House , but still retained control of that chamber. However, Republicans were unable to gain control of the Senate , continuing their minority status with a net loss of two seats. In the aftermath of the loss, some prominent Republicans spoke out against their own party. A 2012 election post-mortem by the Republican Party concluded that the party needed to do more on
4312-634: The Republican Party had greatly shifted towards illiberalism following the election of Trump, and research conducted by the V-Dem Institute concluded that the party was more similar to Europe's most right-wing parties such as Law and Justice in Poland or Fidesz in Hungary. In 2022 and 2023, Supreme Court justices appointed by Trump proved decisive in landmark decisions on gun rights , abortion , and affirmative action . The party went into
4410-401: The Republican Party's first National Convention in 1856 , the party adopted a national platform emphasizing opposition to the expansion of slavery into the free territories. Although Republican nominee John C. Frémont lost that year's presidential election to Democrat James Buchanan , Buchanan managed to win only four of the fourteen northern states. Despite the loss of the presidency and
4508-855: The Republican banner. Since 2009, the party has faced significant factionalism within its own ranks and has shifted towards right-wing populism . In the 21st century, the Republican Party receives its strongest support from rural voters , evangelical Christians , men , senior citizens , and voters without college degrees . On economic issues, the party has maintained a pro-business attitude since its inception. It supports low taxes and deregulation while opposing socialism , labor unions and single-payer healthcare . The populist faction supports economic protectionism , including tariffs . On social issues, it advocates for restricting abortion , discouraging and often prohibiting recreational drug use , promoting gun ownership and easing gun restrictions , and opposing transgender rights . In foreign policy,
4606-410: The Republican to the Democratic Party, which had national leaders who had supported the civil rights effort and legislation enforcing their constitutional rights as citizens. In 1972, Republicans became competitive in statewide elections for the first time since 1900: James Holshouser was elected Governor of the state, and Jesse Helms , a former Democrat who held office for a long time, was elected to
4704-497: The Republicans lost five seats, though whether it was due to poor messaging or Clinton's popularity providing a coattail effect is debated. Gingrich was ousted from party power due to the performance, ultimately deciding to resign from Congress altogether. For a short time afterward, it appeared Louisiana representative Bob Livingston would become his successor; Livingston, however, stepped down from consideration and resigned from Congress after damaging reports of affairs threatened
4802-503: The Republicans struck a deal with Clinton on the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 , which included tax cuts, the Republican House majority had difficulty convening on a new agenda ahead of the 1998 elections . During the ongoing impeachment of Bill Clinton in 1998, Gingrich decided to make Clinton's misconduct the party message heading into the elections, believing it would add to their majority. The strategy proved mistaken and
4900-500: The Senate on June 6, 2001, when Vermont Republican senator Jim Jeffords switched his party affiliation to Democrat. The Republicans regained the Senate majority in the 2002 elections , helped by Bush's surge in popularity following the September 11 attacks , and Republican majorities in the House and Senate were held until the Democrats regained control of both chambers in the 2006 elections , largely due to increasing opposition to
4998-473: The Senate voted to acquit him. Trump lost the 2020 presidential election to Democrat Joe Biden . He refused to concede the race, claiming widespread electoral fraud and attempting to overturn the results . On January 6, 2021, the United States Capitol was attacked by Trump supporters following a rally at which Trump spoke. After the attack, the House impeached Trump for a second time on
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#17328024179475096-408: The Senate. Over the course of his presidency, Trump appointed three justices to the Supreme Court : Neil Gorsuch , Brett Kavanaugh , and Amy Coney Barrett . It was the most Supreme Court appointments for any president in a single term since Richard Nixon . Trump appointed 260 judges in total, creating overall Republican-appointed majorities on every branch of the federal judiciary except for
5194-492: The U.S. Senate. Jack Lee , who was elected state party chairperson in 1977, is widely credited with unifying the North Carolina Republican Party in this period. The parties were generally competitive, with the state's voters split between them, through much of the rest of the 20th century. The elections of 2010 led to Republican control of both houses of the North Carolina General Assembly for
5292-475: The Union and abolishing slavery . After the war, the party largely dominated national politics until the Great Depression in the 1930s, when it lost its congressional majorities and the Democrats' New Deal programs proved popular. Dwight D. Eisenhower 's election in 1952 was a rare break between Democratic presidents and he presided over a period of increased economic prosperity after World War II . Following
5390-612: The Whig Party it replaced, Republicans also called for economic and social modernization . At the first public meeting of the anti-Nebraska movement on March 20, 1854, at the Little White Schoolhouse in Ripon, Wisconsin , the name "Republican" was proposed as the name of the party. The name was partly chosen to pay homage to Thomas Jefferson 's Democratic-Republican Party . The first official party convention
5488-507: The black vote by violence and fraud. Republicans had success in the 1890s when they joined forces with the Populist party in an "electoral fusion." They gained enough seats in the legislature to control it in 1896, and elected Daniel L. Russell as governor in 1896. To prevent this kind of challenge, after Democrats regained control of the state legislature, in 1900 they adopted a constitutional suffrage amendment which required prepayment of
5586-583: The charge of incitement of insurrection , making him the only federal officeholder to be impeached twice. Trump left office on January 20, 2021. His impeachment trial continued into the early weeks of the Biden presidency , and he was acquitted on February 13, 2021 . Since the 2020 election, election denial has become increasingly mainstream in the party, with the majority of 2022 Republican candidates being election deniers. The party also made efforts to restrict voting based on false claims of fraud. By 2020,
5684-477: The city with his wife, Virginia, and their three children. Lee hired Curt Nunnery as a station radio personality. Under Lee, WFAI-AM became the first radio station in eastern North Carolina to air daily editorials shows hosted by Jesse Helms . He publicly supported Helms' candidacy for the United States Senate in 1972. Lee sold WFAI in the early 1970s to focus on his political career. Lee
5782-574: The corruption which had plagued his political career. Republican Benjamin Harrison defeated Cleveland in the 1888 election . During his presidency, Harrison signed the Dependent and Disability Pension Act , which established pensions for all veterans of the Union who had served for more than 90 days and were unable to perform manual labor. Following his loss to Cleveland in the 1892 presidential election , Harrison unsuccessfully attempted to pass
5880-560: The decade produced an unprecedented prosperity until the Wall Street Crash of 1929 heralded the Great Depression. The New Deal coalition forged by Democratic president Franklin D. Roosevelt controlled American politics for most of the next three decades, excluding the presidency of Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower in the 1950s. After Roosevelt took office in 1933, New Deal legislation sailed through Congress and
5978-528: The economy moved sharply upward from its nadir in early 1933. The 1934 elections left the GOP with only 25 senators against 71 Democrats. The House likewise had overwhelming Democratic majorities. The Republican Party factionalized into a majority Old Right , based predominantly in the Midwest , and a liberal wing based in the Northeast that supported much of the New Deal. The Old Right sharply attacked
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#17328024179476076-417: The elections, which helped lead the way toward his impeachment and near ouster from office in 1868, the same year Ulysses S. Grant was elected as the next Republican president . Grant was a Radical Republican, which created some division within the party. Massachusetts senator Charles Sumner and Illinois senator Lyman Trumbull opposed most of his Reconstructionist policies. Others took issue with
6174-605: The first time since 1896 when it had gained success in a fusionist campaign with the Populist Party . When the Republican-controlled legislature conducted redistricting in 2011, it established districts biased in favor of Republicans. As a result, although more voters chose Democratic congressional candidates in the state in 2012, Republicans won a majority of the seats. The district maps have been challenged in several lawsuits for racial gerrymandering , and
6272-522: The gold standard over free silver in his campaign messaging, but promised to continue bimetallism to ward off continued skepticism over the gold standard, which had lingered since the Panic of 1893 . Democrat William Jennings Bryan proved to be a devoted adherent to the free silver movement, which cost Bryan the support of Democratic institutions such as Tammany Hall , the New York World and
6370-479: The lack of a majority in the U.S. Congress , Republicans were able to orchestrate a Republican speaker of the House of Representatives , which went to Nathaniel P. Banks . Historian James M. McPherson writes regarding Banks' speakership that "if any one moment marked the birth of the Republican party, this was it." The Republicans were eager for the 1860 elections . Former Illinois U.S. representative Abraham Lincoln spent several years building support within
6468-405: The leadership of the North Carolina Republican Party after leaving the mayoral office. Prominent supporters of Lee included U.S. Senator Jesse Helms and political activist Thomas F. Ellis . Lee was elected Chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party unopposed at the party's conference on April 16, 1977, after his opponent, Bill Hiatt, withdrew. The state Republican Party was deeply divided at
6566-593: The maps were struck down by a state court in 2019. In 2012, Republicans retained control of the legislature and elected two Republicans, Pat McCrory and Dan Forest , as Governor and Lieutenant Governor , respectively. Most of the other Council of State offices (the Governor and Lieutenant Governor are Chairman and Vice Chairman, respectively) were won by Democratic candidates. (The other Republicans are Cherie K. Berry , Commissioner of Labor and Steve Troxler , Commissioner of Agriculture .) In February 2021,
6664-419: The most it had held in history. The Party also held 33 governorships, the most it had held since 1922. The party had total control of government in 25 states; it had not held total control of this many states since 1952. The opposing Democratic Party held full control of only five states in 2017. In the 2018 elections , Republicans lost control of the House of Representatives, but strengthened their hold on
6762-467: The national debt hiked considerably under Bush's tenure. In contrast, some social conservatives expressed dissatisfaction with the party's support for economic policies that conflicted with their moral values. The Republican Party lost its Senate majority in 2001 when the Senate became split evenly; nevertheless, the Republicans maintained control of the Senate due to the tie-breaking vote of Bush's vice president, Dick Cheney . Democrats gained control of
6860-406: The national level to attract votes from minorities and young voters. In March 2013, Republican National Committee chairman Reince Priebus issued a report on the party's electoral failures in 2012, calling on Republicans to reinvent themselves and officially endorse immigration reform. He proposed 219 reforms, including a $ 10 million marketing campaign to reach women, minorities, and gay people;
6958-422: The nine current U.S. Supreme Court justices were appointed by Republican presidents. Its most recent presidential nominee is Donald Trump , who served as the 45th president of the United States and was the party's candidate again in the 2024 presidential election . There have been 19 Republican presidents, the most from any one political party. The Republican Party's founding members chose its name as homage to
7056-549: The party establishment is interventionist, while the populist faction supports isolationism and in some cases non-interventionism . In 1854, the Republican Party was founded in the Northern United States by forces opposed to the expansion of slavery , ex- Whigs , and ex- Free Soilers . The Republican Party quickly became the principal opposition to the dominant Democratic Party and the briefly popular Know Nothing Party. The party grew out of opposition to
7154-615: The party, campaigning heavily for Frémont in 1856 and making a bid for the Senate in 1858 , losing to Democrat Stephen A. Douglas but gaining national attention from the Lincoln–Douglas debates it produced. At the 1860 Republican National Convention , Lincoln consolidated support among opponents of New York U.S. senator William H. Seward , a fierce abolitionist who some Republicans feared would be too radical for crucial states such as Pennsylvania and Indiana , as well as those who disapproved of his support for Irish immigrants. Lincoln
7252-629: The passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 , the southern states became more reliably Republican in presidential politics, while northeastern states became more reliably Democratic. The GOP went on to control the White House from 1969 to 1977 under 37th president Richard Nixon , and when he resigned in 1974 due to the Watergate scandal , Gerald Ford became the 38th president, serving until 1977. Ronald Reagan defeated incumbent Democratic President Jimmy Carter in
7350-501: The presidency in a landslide in the 1988 election . However, his term was characterized by division within the Republican Party. Bush's vision of economic liberalization and international cooperation with foreign nations saw the negotiation and, during the presidency of Democrat Bill Clinton in the 1990s, the signing of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the conceptual beginnings of
7448-487: The right in the Republican Party. The Republicans returned to the presidency in the 1920s, winning on platforms of normalcy , business-oriented efficiency, and high tariffs. The national party platform avoided mention of prohibition, instead issuing a vague commitment to law and order . Warren G. Harding died in 1923 and Calvin Coolidge easily defeated the splintered opposition in 1924. The pro-business policies of
7546-464: The seat had been held for decades by Democrat Ted Kennedy . In November, Republicans recaptured control of the House , increased their number of seats in the Senate , and gained a majority of governorships . The Tea Party would go on to strongly influence the Republican Party, in part due to the replacement of establishment Republicans with Tea Party-style Republicans. When Obama was re-elected president in 2012 , defeating Republican Mitt Romney ,
7644-519: The setting of a shorter, more controlled primary season; and the creation of better data collection facilities. Following the 2014 elections , the Republican Party took control of the Senate by gaining nine seats. With 247 seats in the House and 54 seats in the Senate, the Republicans ultimately achieved their largest majority in the Congress since the 71st Congress in 1929. In the 2016 presidential election , Republican nominee Donald Trump defeated Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton . The result
7742-418: The sex on their birth certificates. While some transgender people alter the gender marker on their birth certificates, others have not yet done so or cannot do so, and this law would have prevented them from using the restroom consistent with the gender identity in which they live. However, on March 30, 2017, the portion of the law regarding bathroom use was repealed, and a sunset provision of December 1, 2020
7840-479: The state by 1904, although they constituted one-third of the population. An estimated 75,000 black male citizens lost the vote. With North Carolina a one-party Democratic state of the Solid South following the disfranchisement of blacks, North Carolina Republicans struggled to survive as a party during the first half of the twentieth century. African Americans were virtually excluded from the political system in
7938-470: The state until the late 1960s. In 1928 Republicans carried the state's electoral votes for president (for candidate Herbert Hoover ). White members of the Republican Party generally lived in the Piedmont near Charlotte and Winston-Salem, and the mountains in the western part of the state. In 1952 Charles R. Jonas was elected to Congress from the western part of the state as the first Republican since before
8036-481: The ten elected statewide Council of State offices: Republican Party (United States) The Republican Party , also known as the GOP ( Grand Old Party ), is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States . It emerged as the main political rival of the then-dominant Democratic Party in the 1850s, and the two parties have dominated American politics since then. The Republican Party
8134-418: The time between rival supporters of Gerald Ford and Ronald Reagan . Lee is widely credited with unifying the North Carolina Republican Party following a long period of political infighting. Under Lee, who believed that Republican themes would appeal to the state's conservative-leaning Democrats, Ronald Reagan won North Carolina in the 1980 presidential election . In 1983, President Reagan appointed Lee as
8232-477: The values of republicanism promoted by Democratic-Republican Party, which its founder, Thomas Jefferson, called the "Republican Party". The idea for the name came from an editorial by the party's leading publicist, Horace Greeley, who called for "some simple name like 'Republican' [that] would more fitly designate those who had united to restore the Union to its true mission of champion and promulgator of Liberty rather than propagandist of slavery". The name reflects
8330-510: The vote against his Democratic opponent. Lee had later stated that he ran in 1964 so the Republican Party would at least have a candidate in that election. Lee became the chairman of the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce from 1965 to 1968. He was also active in a variety of other business and civic organizations. In 1971, Jack Lee won the nonpartisan Fayetteville mayoral election by defeating city councilman Denny Shaffer in
8428-475: The war, but they did not attempt to do away with Social Security or the agencies that regulated business. Historian George H. Nash argues: Unlike the "moderate", internationalist, largely eastern bloc of Republicans who accepted (or at least acquiesced in) some of the "Roosevelt Revolution" and the essential premises of President Harry S. Truman 's foreign policy, the Republican Right at heart
8526-439: Was a conservative Republican, while the Fayetteville region was a Democratic stronghold during the 1960s. Lee became the Republican campaign manager for Cumberland County , laying the foundation for future Republican gains in the area during the 1970s. He began his political career in 1964, when he ran unsuccessfully as a Republican candidate for a North Carolina Senate seat. Lee was soundly defeated, garnering just 30% of
8624-548: Was a zealous radical. Gingrich's strategy of " constitutional hardball " resulted in increasing political polarization . The Republicans maintained their majority for the first time since 1928 despite Bob Dole losing handily to Clinton in the presidential election . However, Gingrich's national profile proved a detriment to the Republican Congress, which enjoyed majority approval among voters in spite of Gingrich's relative unpopularity. After Gingrich and
8722-405: Was applied to the ban on local governments passing antidiscrimination laws. At the state party's annual convention in June 2023, delegates voted to censure U.S. Senator Thom Tillis for his support of same-sex marriage. The North Carolina Republican party platform opposes same-sex marriage. The party controls six of the ten statewide Council of State offices and holds a 3/5 supermajority in
8820-415: Was counterrevolutionary. Anti-collectivist, anti-Communist , anti-New Deal, passionately committed to limited government , free market economics , and congressional (as opposed to executive) prerogatives, the G.O.P. conservatives were obliged from the start to wage a constant two-front war: against liberal Democrats from without and "me-too" Republicans from within. After 1945, the internationalist wing of
8918-515: Was elected president in the general election . This election result helped kickstart the American Civil War , which lasted from 1861 until 1865. The 1864 presidential election united War Democrats with the GOP in support of Lincoln and Tennessee Democratic senator Andrew Johnson , who ran for president and vice president on the National Union Party ticket; Lincoln was re-elected. Under Republican congressional leadership,
9016-592: Was established to decide who would be awarded the states' electors. After the Commission voted along party lines in Hayes' favor, Democrats threatened to delay the counting of electoral votes indefinitely so no president would be inaugurated on March 4. This resulted in the Compromise of 1877 and Hayes finally became president. Hayes doubled down on the gold standard , which had been signed into law by Grant with
9114-559: Was founded in 1854 by anti-slavery activists who opposed the Kansas–Nebraska Act , which allowed for the potential extension of slavery to the western territories. The party supported classical liberalism and economic reform geared to industry, supporting investments in manufacturing, railroads, and banking. The party was successful in the North, and by 1858, it had enlisted most former Whigs and former Free Soilers to form majorities in almost every northern state. White Southerners of
9212-537: Was held on July 6, 1854, in Jackson, Michigan . The party emerged from the great political realignment of the mid-1850s, united in pro-capitalist stances with members often valuing Radicalism . The realignment was powerful because it forced voters to switch parties, as typified by the rise and fall of the Know Nothing Party , the rise of the Republican Party and the splits in the Democratic Party. At
9310-476: Was increasingly controversial, as he implemented a family separation policy for migrants , deployed federal law enforcement forces in response to racial protests and reacted slowly to the COVID-19 pandemic before clashing with health officials over testing and treatment. Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives in 2019 on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. On February 5, 2020,
9408-399: Was made speaker, and within the first 100 days of the Republican majority, every proposition featured in the Contract was passed, with the exception of term limits for members of Congress. One key to Gingrich's success in 1994 was nationalizing the election, which in turn led to his becoming a national figure during the 1996 House elections , with many Democratic leaders proclaiming Gingrich
9506-454: Was to prioritize drug rehabilitation programs and aid for prisoner reentry into society, a move intended to capitalize on President Clinton's tougher crime initiatives such as his administration's 1994 crime bill . The platform failed to gain much traction among members of the party during his presidency. The Republican Party remained fairly cohesive for much of the 2000s, as both strong economic libertarians and social conservatives opposed
9604-544: Was unexpected; polls leading up to the election showed Clinton leading the race. Trump's victory was fueled by narrow victories in three states— Michigan , Pennsylvania , and Wisconsin —that had been part of the Democratic blue wall for decades. It was attributed to strong support amongst working-class white voters, who felt dismissed and disrespected by the political establishment. Trump became popular with them by abandoning Republican establishment orthodoxy in favor of
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