Wisconsin Progressive Party

History

Background and Formation

The Party was the brainchild of Philip La Follette and Robert M. La Follette, Jr., the sons of Wisconsin Governor and Senator Robert M. La Follette, Sr. The party was established in 1934 as an alliance between the longstanding "Progressive" faction of the Republican Party of Wisconsin, led by the La Follette family and their political allies, and certain radical farm and labor groups active in Wisconsin at the time. Journalist John Nichols argues that the 1924 platform that Robert La Follette Sr., ran on: "taxing the rich, cracking down on Wall Street abuses, empowering workers to organize unions, defending small farmers, breaking up corporate trusts, strengthening public utilities — fueled a resurgence of left-wing populist movements across the upper Midwest: the Non-Partisan League of North Dakota, the Farmer-Labor Party of Minnesota and the Progressive Party of Wisconsin."Buoying off of popular discontent with both major parties, the La Follette brothers were both successful in their bids, and the party saw a number of other victories as well in the 1934 and 1936 elections, notably winning several U.S. House seats and a majority of the Wisconsin State Senate and Wisconsin State Assembly in 1936. In 1936 it was informally allied with the New Deal coalition and supported the reelection of President Franklin Roosevelt.

Progressive Governance

Following the re-election of Philip, he took a far different tone for his second term than he had for his first. In his second inaugural address he stressed the need for reform in more concrete terms, advocating for an increase in executive power and calling for increased spending towards schools and wages despite a projected $9 million dollar shortfall in the budget.

Their grip on power proved short-lived: they succumbed to a united Democratic and Republican front in 1938 which swept most of them out of office, including Philip La Follette. The party effectively collapsed when Philip went off to serve in the Pacific War during World War II. During La Follette's absence, the party failed to formulate a coherent party platform and instead opted to criticize the governor at the time, Julius P. Heil.

Cooperation with the Socialists

During its heyday, the Progressive Party usually did not run candidates in the Socialists (known as the "sewer socialists") stronghold of Milwaukee. There were strong ideological differences between the two movements as the two aligned with differing national parties. (Socialist State Representative George L. Tews said during a 1932 debate on unemployment compensation and how to fund it argued for the Socialist bill and against the Progressive substitute, stating that a Progressive was "a Socialist with the brains knocked out"), when both faced opposition from the conservative major parties. During the period from 1939 on, the Progressives and the Socialists of Milwaukee sometimes made common cause, with Socialist legislators caucusing with the minority Progressives. In 1942, Socialist Frank P. Zeidler, later to be elected mayor of Milwaukee, was the nominee on the Progressive party line for State Treasurer of Wisconsin.

The last politician to hold office from the Wisconsin Progressive Party nationally was Merlin Hull, a U.S. Representative from Wisconsin, elected as a Progressive in 1944. (Hull continued to be re-elected on the Republican ticket, and served until his death in 1953.)

1938

1939–1946

As one of the Senate's leading isolationists, Robert helped found the America First Committee in 1940 to oppose Roosevelt's foreign policy and denounce risk of U.S. entry into World War II. Soon Philip found himself working alongside figures such as Charles Lindbergh, which led some to assume he had shifted towards more conservative politics.

Orland Steen Loomis was the last Progressive to be elected Governor of Wisconsin, in the 1942 election. He died, however, before his inauguration as governor. Robert La Follette Jr. held on to his Senate seat until 1946, when the party decided to disband itself. Robert La Follette ran for re-election that year as a Republican rather than a Progressive, but was defeated in the Republican primary by Joe McCarthy.

Dissolution

By 1946, the Wisconsin Progressive Party had all but collapsed, barely qualifying for major party status after the 1944 elections. While Philip La Follette had desired for the party to continue on, after being advised to stay out of the 1946 convention, the Party voted to dissolve itself, voting 284 to 131 to rejoin the Republican Party.

Officeholders from the Wisconsin Progressive Party

Federal office

;U.S. Senators

• Robert M. La Follette, Jr., Senator, 1935–1946 (served as a Republican 1925–1935) ;U.S. Representatives
• Thomas Ryum Amlie, U.S. Representative from (1935–1939)
• Gerald J. Boileau, U.S. Representative from (1933–1939)
• John C. Brophy, U.S. Representative from (1947–1949)
• Bernard J. Gehrmann, U.S. Representative from (1935–1943)
• Merlin Hull, U.S. Representative from (1935–1946)
• Harry Sauthoff, U.S. Representative from (1935–1939, 1941–1945)
• George J. Schneider, U.S. Representative from (1935–1939)
• Gardner R. Withrow, U.S. Representative from (1931–1939)

State office

;Executive branch officials

• Theodore Dammann, Secretary of State of Wisconsin, (1935–1938) (served as a Republican 1927–1935)
• Herman Ekern, Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin, (1937–1938)
• Henry Gunderson, Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin, (1936–1937)
• Ralph Immell, Adjutant General of Wisconsin (1923–1946)
• Philip La Follette, Governor of Wisconsin, (1934–1938)
• Solomon Levitan, State Treasurer of Wisconsin, 1937–1938 (served as a Republican 1923–1932)
• Orland Steen Loomis, Attorney General of Wisconsin, 1937–1938; elected Governor in 1942 but died before taking office

; County officials

• Herbert J. Steffes, Milwaukee County District Attorney (1936–1940)

; State Senators

• George Engebretson, state senator from the 2nd district (1937–1939)
• Harold Groves, state senator from the 26th district (1935–1937)
• George Hampel, state senator from the 6th district (1937–1945)
• Michael F. Kresky, Jr., state senator from the 2nd district (1937–1939)
• Joseph E. McDermid, Wisconsin State Senate, 1935–1941
• Oscar S. Paulson, Wisconsin State Senate, 1937–1940
• Elmer Peterson, Wisconsin State Senate, 1943–1947
• Edwin Myrwyn Rowlands, Wisconsin State Senate, 1935–1937
• Herman J. Severson 1934–1938 (also served as a Republican
• Fred W. Zantow, Wisconsin State Senate, reelected on the Progressive ticket, 1934; died before he took office (served as a Republican 1931–1934

; State Assemblymen

• Paul Alfonsi, Speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly 1937–1939, Wisconsin State Assembly 1933–1941, 1959–1971
• William H. Barnes, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1935–1940
• Lyall T. Beggs, Wisconsin State Assembly 1941–1947
• Bernard E. Brandt, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1935–1936
• Laurie E. Carlson, Wisconsin State Assembly 1937–1942
• Jorge W. Carow, Speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly 1935–1936, Wisconsin State Assembly 1929–1936
• John F. Dittbrender, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1939–1940
• George Engebretson, Wisconsin State Senate, 1938 (served as a Republican 1933–1937)
• William R. Foley, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1943–1944
• Oliver H. Fritz, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1937–1939
• John R. Fronek, 1934–1933 (served as a Republican)
• William P. Groves, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1935–1937
• Hjalmer S. Halvorsen, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1934–1937
• James C. Hanson, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1934–1940 (served as a Republican 1917–1934)
• Peter A. Hemmy, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1935–1940
• Martin H. Herzog, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1939–1940
• Arthur A. Hitt, 1934–1939
• Ernst J. Hoesly, 1934–1939
• John E. Johnson, Wisconsin State Assembly
• Arthur D. Kelly, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1934–1939 (served as a Republican 1933–1934)
• Dougald D. Kennedy, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1937–1941
• Edward H. Kiefer, Wisconsin State Assembly 1937–1940 (served as a Socialist 1911–1914, 1931–1936)
• Felix A. Kremer, (Wisconsin State Assembly) 1937–1938
• Chester A. Krohn, Wisconsin State Assembly 1941–1942
• Claud H. Larsen, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1939–1940
• Tom Lomsdahl, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1935–1937
• James S. Mace, Wisconsin State Assembly 1939–1940
• Robert McCutchin, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1943–1944 (served as a Republican 1947–1951)
• Earl Mullen, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1943–1946 (served as a Republican 1947 –1949)
• Carl J. Peik, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1939–1940
• Adam F. Poltl, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1935–1936
• Ben Rubin, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1937–1942 (served as a Socialist 1931–1932)
• Herbert C. Schenck, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1935–1940
• Harry W. Schilling, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1935–1937 (served as a Republican 1947–1951)
• Frank D. Sheahan, Wisconsin State Assembly 1941–1942, 1945–1946
• Reno W. Trego, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1937–1940
• Harry P. Van Guilder, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1937–1942
• Otto A. Vogel, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1935–1936 1939–1940 1943–1948
• Casper D. Waller, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1943–1946
• Frank Weinheimer, Wisconsin State Assembly 1941–1942
• Herman B. Wegner, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1934–1944 (served as a Socialist 1933–1934)
• George J. Woerth, Wisconsin State Assembly 1935–1939

Electoral history

Wisconsin state offices

Wisconsin federal offices

Notes

References

References

1. Dreier, Peter. (2011-04-11). "La Follette's Wisconsin Idea". University of Pennsylvania Press.
2. Dreier, Peter. (2011-04-11). "La Follette's Wisconsin Idea". University of Pennsylvania Press.
3. (2024-11-05). "La Follette lost 100 years ago, but his progressivism lives on". The Cap Times.
4. Haala, Cory. (2020). "The Progressive Center: Midwestern Liberalism in the Age of Reagan, 1978-1992". Marquette University.
5. Paul W. Glad, ''The History of Wisconsin, Volume V: War, a New Era, and Depression, 1914-1940. Vol. 5'' (Wisconsin Historical Society, 1990) pp.398-565.
6. Donald R. McCoy, '' Angry voices; left-of-center politics in the New Deal era'' (1971) pp.47–53.
7. Jonathan Kasparek, ''Fighting son: a biography of Philip F. La Follette'' (Wisconsin State Historical Society, 2006) chapter 5.
8. McCoy, Donald R.. (1951). "The Formation of the Wisconsin Progressive Party in 1934". The Historian.
9. William E. Leuchtenburg, ''Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal, 1932-1940'' (1963) p. 190.
10. Kasparek, Jonathan. (2006). "Fighting Son: A Biography of Philip F. La Follette". [[Wisconsin Historical Society]].
11. Kaveny, Edward T. "$10,000,000 Tax: Assembly Passes Compromise Bill by 73 to 15 Vote" ''[[Milwaukee Sentinel]]'' January 6, 1932; p. 1, cols. 7-8
12. "America First Committee".
13. "An Arsenal of Progressivism: How Familial Bonds Built and Broke the La Follette Dynasty of Wisconsin (1924–1953)".
14. "Archival Resources in Wisconsin: Descriptive Finding Aids: Summary Information".
15. (1941-12-05). "America First Committee". Wisconsin State Journal.
16. (1941-09-29). "America First Committee". Wisconsin State Journal.
17. (1946-03-18). "WI State Journal 18 Mar 1946 p2". Wisconsin State Journal.
18. (1945-11-14). "La Crosse Tribune 14 Nov 1945 p6". The La Crosse Tribune.