Wisconsin Progressive party - wikipedia Wisconsin Progressive party The Wisconsin Progressive Party ( 1934 -- 1946 ) was a political party that briefly held a dominant role in Wisconsin politics. The Party was the brainchild of Philip La Follette and Robert M. La Follette, Jr., the sons of the famous 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. The party served as a vehicle for Philip to run for re-election as Governor of Wisconsin and for Robert to run for re-election to the United States Senate. Both men were successful in their bids, and the party saw a number of other victories as well in the 1934 and 1936 election, notably winning several U.S. House seats and a majority of the Wisconsin State Senate and Wisconsin State Assembly in 1936. Their grip on power was short - lived, however, and they succumbed to a united Democratic and Republican front in 1938 which swept most of them out of office, including Philip. They were further crippled that year by attempting to expand the party to the national level. 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 La Follettes decided to disband the party, and to run Robert for re-election as a Republican rather than a Progressive. He was defeated in the Republican primary for the 1946 Senate elections, by Joe McCarthy. During its heyday the Progressive Party usually did not run candidates in Milwaukee as there was a tacit agreement with the city 's Socialists that progressive third parties should not fight each other, despite strong ideological differences between the two movements ( Socialist Assemblyman George L. Tews 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 in a Farmer - Labor - Progressive Federation, 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. ) Contents 1 Officeholders from the Wisconsin Progressive Party 1.1 Federal office 1.2 State office 2 Notes 3 Sources Officeholders from the Wisconsin Progressive Party Federal office Robert M. La Follette, Jr., Senator, 1935 -- 1946 ( served as a Republican 1925 -- 1935 ) Thomas Ryum Amlie, U.S. Congressman, 1935 -- 39 Gerald J. Boileau, U.S. Congressman, 1931 -- 39 Bernard J. Gehrmann, U.S. Congressman, 1935 -- 43 Merlin Hull, U.S. Congressman, 1935 -- 47 Harry Sauthoff, U.S. Congressman, 1935 -- 39, 1941 -- 45 George J. Schneider, U.S. Congressman, 1935 -- 39 Gardner Robert Withrow, U.S. Congressman, 1931 -- 39 State office Philip La Follette, Governor of Wisconsin, 1934 -- 1938 Henry Gunderson, Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin, 1936 -- 1937 Herman Ekern, Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin, 1937 -- 1938 Theodore Dammann, Secretary of State of Wisconsin, 1935 -- 1938 ( served as a Republican 1927 -- 1935 ) Orland Steen Loomis, Attorney General of Wisconsin, 1937 -- 1938 ; elected Governor in 1942 but died before taking office Solomon Levitan, State Treasurer of Wisconsin, 1937 -- 1938 ( served as a Republican 1923 -- 1932 ) Herbert J. Steffes, Milwaukee County District Attorney, 1936 -- 1940 ( served as a Republican 1940 -- 1944 George Hampel, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1937 -- 1944 ( served as a Socialist 1931 -- 1932 ) Felix A. Kremer, ( Wisconsin State Assembly ) 1937 -- 1938 Edward H. Kiefer, Wisconsin State Assembly 1937 -- 1940 ( served as a Socialist 1911 -- 1914, 1931 -- 1936 ) Ben Rubin, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1937 -- 1942 ( served as a Socialist 1931 -- 1932 ) Lyall T. Beggs, Wisconsin State Assembly 1941 -- 1947 Chester A. Krohn, Wisconsin State Assembly 1941 -- 1942 Frank D. Sheahan, Wisconsin State Assembly 1941 -- 1942, 1945 -- 1946 Frank Weinheimer, Wisconsin State Assembly 1941 -- 1942 William R. Foley, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1943 -- 1944 Elmer Peterson, Wisconsin State Senate, 1943 -- 1947 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 ) Laurie E. Carlson, Wisconsin State Assembly 1937 -- 1942 Edwin Myrwyn Rowlands, Wisconsin State Senate, 1935 -- 1937 Michael F. Kresky, Jr., Wisconsin State Senate, 1937 -- 1939 Harold Groves, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1931 -- 1933 ; Wisconsin State Assembly, 1935 -- 1939 William P. Groves, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1935 -- 1937 Herbert C. Schenck, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1935 -- 1940 Claud H. Larsen, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1939 -- 1940 Harry P. Van Guilder, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1937 -- 1942 William H. Barnes, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1935 -- 1940 George Engebretson, Wisconsin State Senate, 1938 ( served as a Republican 1933 -- 1937 ) Reno W. Trego, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1937 -- 1940 Otto A. Vogel, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1935 -- 1936 1939 -- 1940 1943 -- 1948 George J. Woerth, Wisconsin State Assembly 1935 -- 1939 James S. Mace, Wisconsin State Assembly 1939 -- 1940 John F. Dittbrender, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1939 -- 1940 Peter A. Hemmy, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1935 -- 1940 Kenneth L. Greenquist, Wisconsin State Senate, 1939 -- 1942 Dougald D. Kennedy, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1937 -- 1941 Martin H. Herzog, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1939 -- 1940 Arthur D. Kelly, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1934 -- 1939 ( served as a Republican 1933 -- 1934 ) Joseph E. McDermid, Wisconsin State Senate, 1935 -- 1941 Harold Groves, Wisconsin State Senate, 1934 -- 1936 Carl J. Peik, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1939 -- 1940 Herman B. Wegner, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1934 -- 1944 ( served as a Socialist 1933 -- 1934 ) Oscar S. Paulson, Wisconsin State Senate, 1937 -- 1940 James C. Hanson, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1934 -- 1940 ( served as a Republican 1917 -- 1934 ) Harry W. Schilling, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1935 -- 1937 ( served as a Republican 1947 -- 1951 ) Adam F. Poltl, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1935 -- 1936 Fred W. Zantow, Wisconsin State Senate, reelected on the Progressive ticket, 1934 ; died before he took office ( served as a Republican 1931 -- 1934 Bernard E. Brandt, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1935 -- 1936 Hjalmer S. Halvorsen, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1934 -- 1937 Tom Lomsdahl, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1935 -- 1937 John R. Fronek, 1934 -- 1933 ( served as a Republican Arthur A. Hitt, 1934 -- 1939 Ernst J. Hoesly, 1934 -- 1939 Herman J. Severson 1934 -- 1938 ( also served as a Republican Oliver H. Fritz, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1937 -- 1939 Casper D. Waller, Wisconsin State Assembly, 1943 -- 1946 John E. Johnson, Wisconsin State Assembly Notes Jump up ^ On This Day in Wisconsin History ; On This Day : May 19 Wisconsin Historical Society Jump up ^ Wisconsin Progressive Party The Historical Marker Database Jump up ^ 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 Sources Beck, Elmer A. The Sewer Socialists : A History of the Socialist Party of Wisconsin, 1897 -- 1940. Fennimore, WI : Westburg Associates, 1982. Glad, Paul W. The History of Wisconsin, Volume V : War, A New Era, and Depression, 1914 -- 1940. Edited by William F. Thompson. Madison : State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1990. `` Progressive Party, Wisconsin. '' Encyclopedia of American History. Answers Corporation, 2006. Answers.com 26 February 2009. http://www.answers.com/topic/progressive-party-wisconsin Wisconsin political parties Major Democratic Republican Minor Green Libertarian Whig Inactive Progressive Socialist Political party strength in Wisconsin Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wisconsin_Progressive_Party&oldid=774644634 '' Categories : Defunct progressive parties in the United States Political history of Wisconsin Political parties disestablished in 1946 Political parties established in 1934 Political parties in Wisconsin Talk Contents About Wikipedia Deutsch Edit links This page was last edited on 9 April 2017, at 20 : 24. 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Question: who led the progressive movement in wisconsin where he served as governor
Answer: the La Follette family and their political allies