An historical look at the parties By Heather Chrudimsky For The News-Chronicle Over the past several months, presidential candidates from all the parties have visited Wisconsin calling it a key state in this year's election. Throughout history, Wisconsin, the 23rd largest state in the country, has seen fairly even competition between the Democratic and Republican as well as a rise of other minor parties. Here is a look back at the history of some of the political parties in the badger state. Democrat Party The Democratic party of the United States is one of the oldest surviving political organizations in the world. From statehood in 1848 until 1855, the Democratic Party was the dominant political party in Wisconsin. It wasn't until the 1940s that the Democratic Party reemerged in the state and ended the long Republican domination, returning the state to a more balanced, two-party, competitive system. The modern Democratic Party of Wisconsin was formed back in 1949. It was initially known as the Democratic Organizing Committee to differentiate itself from the conservative Democratic Party already in existence. The first members of the Democrat Party were from all walks of life. They included Gaylord Nelson, a future governor and United States senator; James Doyle, Sr., Madison attorney and father of our governor; Carl Thompson, state senator; John Reynolds, future governor and federal judge; David Rabinovtiz, Sheboygan attorney; Henry Reuss, future 5th Congressional Representative; and Thomas Fairchild, Milwaukee attorney. Democrats lost control of the Senate in 1993 for the first time since 1974. And in 1995 they lost control of the assembly for the first time since 1970. Control of the senate has changed several times since then. However over the years, the governor's seat has been dominated by the Republicans. Governor Jim Doyle is only the second Democrat governor to serve since 1979. In the last 50 years, Wisconsin's two main urban areas - Milwaukee and Madison - have provided more than half of the state's constitutional officers. Today, the Senate seats are controlled by Democrats, including Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl. The House of Representatives is spilt 50-50, including four Democrats - Tammy Baldwin, Ron Kind, Jerry Kleczka and David Obey; and four Republicans - Paul Ryan, James Sensenbrenner, Thomas Petri and Mark Green. "The Democratic Party of Wisconsin relates to Wisconsin because it is the party of progressives, the party of the little people and the party of all Wisconsin," said Linda Honold, chair of the Democratic Party of Wisconsin. "Our state was founded with the ideal that government should provide for communities and families, as a result Wisconsin has some of the best schools, best colleges, best health care and best roads of any state in the country. The DPW is still committed to a state government that is working to meet the needs of everyone in our state." Republican Party The National Republican Party has ties to the Northeast Wisconsin area. The Grand Old Party is said to have officially started from a meeting at a schoolhouse in Ripon in 1854. The meeting included local Whigs and Free Soil Party members who opposed the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, which allowed for the expansion of slavery. And from there the Republican Party kept growing. Until the Republican Party was founded in 1854, Wisconsin was primarily controlled by the Democratic Party. From then on, Republicans generally dominated the political scene in Wisconsin for the following century. The first members of the party included Alvan Bovay, who organized the meeting, and Coles Bashford. Bashford served as the first Republican governor of Wisconsin from 1856 to 1858. The first Republican Party chairman was William J. Campbell and the first convention of the party was held on July 6, 1854, in Jackson, Mich. The Republicans became a national party in 1856 when John. C. Fremont was nominated for President under the slogan: "Free soil, free labor, free speech, free men, Fremont." Although he didn't win the White House, he did receive 33 percent of the vote. In 1860, the nation elected Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican President. With the election of Lincoln, the Republican Party firmly established itself as a major party capable of holding onto the White House for 60 of the next 100 years. A Wisconsin Republican who received national attention was Joseph R. McCarthy. He is well-known for his anti-Communist crusade while serving as a United States senator in the 1950s. In presidential elections since 1856, Wisconsin has voted for more Republicans than Democrats, until 1932 when Wisconsin voters supported Franklin D. Roosevelt in his first three races. Green Party The Wisconsin Green Party, or WIGP, was started for several different reasons. The Green Party's founding convention took place in St. Croix Falls in 1988, and soon the party had affiliates in several areas throughout Wisconsin including the Milwaukee Area Greens, the Lake Superior Greens, the St. Croix Valley Greens, the Green Bay Greens and the Four Lakes Greens. The first Wisconsin Green Party elected official is Frank Koehn, who was elected to the County Board of Supervisors in Bayfield. By 1994, Greens had been elected in local races including the La Crosse City Council and the Cumberland School Board. In 1996, the Wisconsin Green Party achieved ballot status with presidential candidate Ralph Nader and his running mate Winona LaDuke. The duo received 28,723 votes statewide. Two years later, Green Party candidate for state treasurer, Jeff Peterson, received 31,452 votes, which was more votes than any other third party candidate. The party endorsed Nader and LaDuke again in 2000 for the presidency, who received 93,553 statewide. The Wisconsin Green Party has continued to grow over the years. Jill Bussiere, Wisconsin Green Party co-spokesperson said she thinks everything about the Green Party relates to Wisconsin residents. "We have a strong progressive tradition in Wisconsin," Bussiere said. "Going back to Bob LaFollette, of reform, democracy, concern for the environment, strong education, healthy future - all these things are strong elements of the Wisconsin Green Party platform." Libertarian Party The Libertarian Party is the third largest political party in the United States. It was founded in 1971 in Colorado by upset Republicans, Democrats and political newcomers who wanted to create an alternative to the other parties. Just a little more than a year after the national Libertarian Party was formed, Libertarians in Wisconsin met and formed their state affiliate party. And in 1976, Wisconsin Libertarians began collecting signatures to get Roger MacBride on the presidential ballot as an independent. An independent presidential candidate needed 1,000 signatures to get on the ballot. Most of these signatures were collected on the library mall in Madison. Just a year later, Dan Endsley was chosen as the first Libertarian officeholder in the state. In 1979, the Wisconsin Libertarian Party decided to begin petitioning to be its own political party so that candidates could run as Libertarians instead of Independents. In 1982, the Libertarian Party of Wisconsin ran 23 candidates for public office, including candidates for Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, State Treasurer, United States Senate, six House of Representative seats, one State Senate seat, seven State Representative seats, Milwaukee County Sheriff, Milwaukee County Treasurer and Iowa County Coroner; all having the label Libertarian next to their name. To keep up with everything, the first Libertarian Party of Wisconsin office was opened near the capitol around 1980. In 1982, the party continued their petition drives to get candidates on the ballot for all the statewide offices. They needed to get at least 2 percent of the vote in order for the party to retain ballot status. And in 1982, history was made for the party. Timothy Correll became the first Libertarian elected in Wisconsin when he was elected as Iowa County Coroner. By 1984, the party had organized affiliates in Rock County, Grant-Crawford County, Dane County and Milwaukee County. Today, the party is organized in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The slogan of the Libertarian Part of Wisconsin is "Privatizing Government in Wisconsin." "The Libertarian Party relates to Wisconsinites because they are tired of voting for politicians from either Party A or Party B and getting the same results," said Roy Leyendecker, chairman of the Northeast Wisconsin Libertarian Party and candidate for State Senate District 2. "The citizens of Wisconsin want politicians who hear them and keep their promises made during campaigns. "We in the Libertarian Party explain that we have rights and that the elected politicians at all levels of government operate with privileges granted to them by us. Everyone I speak to always want the same thing, the right to keep their money and spend it to make their own lives better. Instead elected politicians constantly demand more of the citizens' money and these citizens cannot afford to keep having their income taken."