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Wisconsin has an interesting political history that is not easy to define. The [[Free Soil Party]] performed above average in Wisconsin in the [[United States presidential election, 1848|1848]]<ref>[http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/national.php?year=1848 1848 Presidential General Election Results]. ''uselectionatlas.org''. Retrieved November 23, 2016.</ref> and [[United States presidential election, 1852|1852]]<ref>[http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/national.php?year=1852 1852 Presidential General Election Results]. ''uselectionatlas.org''. Retrieved November 23, 2016.</ref> presidential elections.<ref name="RiponGOP">[http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/tp-022/?action=more_essay Wisconsin and the Republican Party]. ''Wisconsin Historical Society''. Retrieved November 23, 2016.</ref>

Wisconsin has an interesting political history that is not easy to define. The [[Free Soil Party]] performed above average in Wisconsin in the [[United States presidential election, 1848|1848]]<ref>[http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/national.php?year=1848 1848 Presidential General Election Results]. ''uselectionatlas.org''. Retrieved November 23, 2016.</ref> and [[United States presidential election, 1852|1852]]<ref>[http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/national.php?year=1852 1852 Presidential General Election Results]. ''uselectionatlas.org''. Retrieved November 23, 2016.</ref> presidential elections.<ref name="RiponGOP">[http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/tp-022/?action=more_essay Wisconsin and the Republican Party]. ''Wisconsin Historical Society''. Retrieved November 23, 2016.</ref>

When the 1854 [[Kansas-Nebraska Act|Kansas-Nebraska bill]], which became law that same year, was proposed, it met very strong opposition in Wisconsin, regardless of one's political affiliation.<ref name="RiponGOP"/> Numerous meeting were held against the bill, and in one of them held in Ripon, Wisconsin, political leaders under the leadership of lawyer [[Alvan E. Bovay]] proposed the creation of a new political party.<ref name="RiponGOP"/> Other similar meetings also supported creating a new party, and "in July of 1854, a convention was held in [[Madison, Wisconsin|Madison]] to organize the new party"—the [[Republican Party]].<ref name="RiponGOP"/> Ripon is considered to be birthplace of the party.<ref name="RiponGOP"/> At the very beginning, the Republican Party performed very well in the state.<ref name="RiponGOP"/>

When the 1854 [[Kansas-Nebraska Act|Kansas-Nebraska bill]], which became law that same year, was proposed, it met very strong opposition in Wisconsin, regardless of one's political affiliation.<ref name="RiponGOP"/> Numerous meeting were held against the bill, and in one of them held in Ripon, Wisconsin, political leaders under the leadership of lawyer [[Alvan E. Bovay]] proposed the creation of a new political party.<ref name="RiponGOP"/> Other similar meetings also supported creating a new party, and "in July of 1854, a convention was held in [[Madison, Wisconsin|Madison]] to organize the new party"—the [[Republican Party]].<ref name="RiponGOP"/> Ripon is thus considered by many to be birthplace of the party.<ref name="RiponGOP"/> At the very beginning, the Republican Party performed very well in the state.<ref name="RiponGOP"/>

Wisconsin cannot be stereotyped politically. It is often associated with the name of anti-communist crusader of the 1950s [[Joseph McCarthy]], but is equally tied to that of [[Robert M. La Follette]] and his Progressive faction of the Republican Party and the [[Progressive Party]]. Socialists flourished in [[Germania]] in Milwaukee, typified by [[Victor Berger]], the first Socialist Party candidate elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Frank Zeidler, the Mayor of Milwaukee from 1948-1960 was the last in a string of twelve socialist mayors of Milwaukee, whose emphasis on the basics of municipal service led them to be called "sewer socialists."<ref>[http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/tp-043/?action=more_essay Milwaukee Sewer Socialism, Wisconsin State Historical Association]</ref> The state is usually a battleground in presidential elections.  Its Republicans tend to be moderates, such as [[Tommy Thompson]], who served as a four-term governor from 1987 to 2001, then entered the cabinet.

Wisconsin cannot be stereotyped politically. It is often associated with the name of anti-communist crusader of the 1950s [[Joseph McCarthy]], but is equally tied to that of [[Robert M. La Follette]] and his Progressive faction of the Republican Party and the [[Progressive Party]]. Socialists flourished in [[Germania]] in Milwaukee, typified by [[Victor Berger]], the first Socialist Party candidate elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Frank Zeidler, the Mayor of Milwaukee from 1948-1960 was the last in a string of twelve socialist mayors of Milwaukee, whose emphasis on the basics of municipal service led them to be called "sewer socialists."<ref>[http://www.wisconsinhistory.org/turningpoints/tp-043/?action=more_essay Milwaukee Sewer Socialism, Wisconsin State Historical Association]</ref> The state is usually a battleground in presidential elections.  Its Republicans tend to be moderates, such as [[Tommy Thompson]], who served as a four-term governor from 1987 to 2001, then entered the cabinet.