During theCivil War,Wisconsin was aRepublican state; in fact, it is the state that gave birth to the Republican Party, although ethno-religious issues in the late 19th century caused a brief split in the coalition. TheBennett Law campaign of 1890 dealt with foreign language teaching in schools. Many Germans switched to theDemocratic Party because of theRepublican Party's support of the law.^[1]

Wisconsin's political history also encompasses, on the one hand,Robert La Follette and theClassicalProgressive movement, and on the other, the Republican and anti-CommunistJoe McCarthy. From the early 20th century, theSocialist Party of America had a base in Milwaukee. The phenomenon was referred to as "sewer socialism" because the elected officials were more concerned with public works and reform than with revolution (although revolutionary socialism existed in the city as well). Its influence faded in the late 1950s largely because of thered scare and racial tensions.^[2] The first Socialist mayor of a large city in the United States wasEmil Seidel, elected mayor of Milwaukee in 1910; another Socialist,Daniel Hoan, was mayor of Milwaukee from 1916 to 1940; and a third,Frank P. Zeidler, from 1948 to 1960. Succeeding Frank Zeidler, the last of Milwaukee's Socialist mayors,Henry Maier, a former Wisconsin State Senator and member of the Democratic Party was elected mayor of Milwaukee in 1960. Maier remained in office for 28 years, the longest-serving mayor in Milwaukee history. Socialistnewspaper editorVictor Berger was repeatedly elected as a U.S. Representative, although he was prevented from serving for some time because of his opposition to the First World War.^[1]

Through the first half of the 20th century, Wisconsin's politics were dominated by Robert La Follette and his sons, originally of the Republican Party, but later of the revivedProgressive Party. Since 1945, the state has maintained a close balance between Republicans andDemocrats. Recent leading Republicans include former GovernorTommy Thompson and CongressmanJim Sensenbrenner; prominent Democrats include SenatorsHerb Kohl andRuss Feingold, the onlySenator to vote against thePatriot Act in 2001, and CongressmanDavid Obey.^[3]

Some have argued the state has experienceddemocratic backsliding since 2011.^[4][5][6] Some political scientists classify Wisconsin as ahybrid regime;^[4] the state'sHouse of Representative andlegislature elections are considered to befree but not fair, with districts undergoing "extremepartisan gerrymanders" to entrench Republicans "beyondelectoral rotation".^[4][5][7]

In 2020, Wisconsin leaned back in the Democratic party's direction as Joe Biden won the state by an even narrower margin of 0.7%. Biden's win was largely carried by Milwaukee and Dane counties with the rural areas of the state being carried by Trump.^[9]

Wisconsin has leanedDemocratic in recent presidential elections, althoughDonald Trump managed to win the state in2016 by a narrow margin of 0.8%. This marked the first time Wisconsin voted for a Republican presidential candidate since1984, when every state except Minnesota and Washington D.C. went Republican. In2012, Republican presidential candidateMitt Romney chose Wisconsin CongressmanPaul Ryan, a native ofJanesville, as his running mate against incumbent Democratic President Barack Obama and Vice PresidentJoe Biden. Obama nevertheless carried Wisconsin by a margin of 53% to 46%. Both the 2000 and 2004 presidential elections were quite close, with Wisconsin receiving heavy doses of national advertising, in accord with its status as a "swing", or pivot, state.Al Gore carried the presidential vote in 2000 by 5,700 votes, andJohn Kerry won Wisconsin in 2004 by 11,000 votes.Barack Obama carried the state in 2008 by 381,000 votes (56%).

Republicans had a stronghold in theFox Valley, but elected a Democrat,Steve Kagen, ofAppleton, for the 8th Congressional District in 2006. However, Kagen survived only two terms and was replaced by Republican Reid Ribble in the Republican Party's sweep of Wisconsin in November 2010, the first time the Republican Party had taken back both chambers of the state legislature and the governorship in the same election. The City of Milwaukee heads the list of Wisconsin's Democratic strongholds, which also includes Madison and the state's Native Americanreservations. Wisconsin's largest Congressional district, the 7th, had voted Democratic since 1969. Its representative, David Obey, chaired the powerful House Appropriations Committee.^[10] However, Obey retired and the once-Democratic seat was taken by RepublicanSean Duffy in November 2010. The 2010 elections saw a huge Republican resurgence in Wisconsin. Republicans took control of the governor's office and both houses of the state legislature. RepublicanRon Johnson defeated Democratic incumbent U.S. SenatorRuss Feingold and Republicans took two previously Democratic-held House seats, creating a 5–3 Republican majority House delegation.

At the statewide level, Wisconsin is competitive, with control regularly alternating between the two parties. In 2006, Democrats gained in a national sweep of opposition to the Bush administration, and the Iraq War. The retiring GOP 8th District Congressman, Mark Green, of Green Bay, ran against the incumbent GovernorJim Doyle. Green lost by 8% statewide, making Doyle the first Democratic governor to be re-elected in 32 years. The Republicans lost control of the state Senate. Although Democrats gained eight seats in the state Assembly, Republicans retained a five-vote majority. In 2008, Democrats regained control of the State Assembly by a 52–46 margin, marking the first time since 1986 that the governor and state legislature were both Democratic.^[12]

With the election ofScott Walker in 2010, Republicans won both chambers of the legislature and the governorship, the first time all three changed partisan control in the same election. His first year in office saw the introduction of the2011 Wisconsin Act 10, which removed collective bargaining rights for state employees. On February 14, 2011, theWisconsin State Capitolerupted with protests when the Legislature took up a bill that would end most collective bargaining rights for state employees, except for wages, to address the $3.6 billion deficit. The protests attracted tens of thousands of people each day for months and garnered international attention. The Assembly passed the bill 53–42 on March 10 after the State Senate passed it the night before, and sent it to the Governor for his signature.^[13] In response to thebill, enough signatures were gathered to force arecall election againstGovernor Walker.Tom Barrett, the mayor of Milwaukee and Walker's 2010 opponent, won the Democratic primary and faced Walker again. Walker won the election by 53% to 46% and became the first governor in United States history to retain his seat after a recall election. Walker enacted other bills promoting conservative governance, such as aright-to-work law,^[14] abortion restrictions,^[15] and legislation removing certain gun controls.^[16][17][18]

Following the 2014 general election on November 4, 2014, the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, State Attorney General and State Treasurer were all Republicans, while the Secretary of State remained in the Democratic camp.^[19] However, Walker was defeated for a third term in2018 by DemocratTony Evers. Democratic U.S. SenatorTammy Baldwin was also elected to a second term and Democrats won all constitutional statewide offices on the ballot including Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, and State Treasurer, the first time this happened in Wisconsin since 1982. When Walker lost re-election in 2018, he collaborated with the Republican-held legislature to strip several powers from the incoming Governor and Attorney General.^[20]

• Political party strength in Wisconsin
• Recall elections in Wisconsin
• List of Wisconsin state legislatures

• Politics of Wisconsin

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