The Republican Party of Wisconsin was founded at an anti-slavery meeting in a schoolhouse in Ripon on March 20, 1854, the same schoolhouse which is generally credited with being the birthplace of the national Republican Party. During the 19th century and the first third of the 20th century the Republicans dominated Wisconsin politics, and the most important voter decisions were made in the primary elections between the progressive and stalwart factions of the party.
During the Depression, the independent Progressive Party was in the majority in Wisconsin, and its demise in 1946 created a major political realignment. This realignment, which was not evident until the election of 1958, was characterized by electoral contests for power between the Republicans and Democrats which more precisely mirrored the national two party patterns.
For a decade after the demise of the Progressive Party, the Republicans were able to maintain their dominance largely as a result of the organizational abilities of state chairman Thomas Coleman (1943-1947). During the Coleman era the Republicans not only held the vast majority of the state offices and seats in the Legislature, but they also held a monopoly on county offices. Despite their electoral success, however, the 1950's were a period of internal disunity for the Republicans because of the controversy surrounding Senator Joseph R. McCarthy in state politics. It was the special election following his death in 1957 which brought these conflicts to the surface and which contributed to the Democrats' first statewide electoral breakthrough.
The party's more pragmatic and less ideological response to what one historian has called the “unprecedented challenge of partisan balance” of the 1960's was reflected in the record of Governor Warren P. Knowles (1964-1970), a representative of the moderate wing of the party, and the meticulous local organizing skills of State Chairman Ody J. Fish. Their efforts paid off with renewed electoral success for the Republicans during the late 1960's. The early 1970's, however, were difficult years for the party which was beset by debt, the image of the Watergate scandal, and an inability to recruit strong candidates. During the latter part of the decade the financial difficulties were ended thanks to the efforts of Financial Chairman Daniel Parker and the electoral fortunes of the party were improved as a result of the popularity of Governor Lee S. Dreyfus and President Ronald Reagan.
