Republican State Party Organizations

ALL STATE PARTY organizations played a critical role in the development of the political system in the United States, though the Grand Old Party (GOP) differs somewhat from the Democratic organizations. The Republican Party officially began in the early 1850s and was committed to the abolishment of slavery and free westward expansion. The first Republicans a were combination of members from the Whig, Democrat, and Free Soil Parties. They collaborated on ideas based on their anger over the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which gave new territories the choice of accepting slavery. The history of the Republican Party as a party of reform meant that the structure of the local organizations—mostly at the state level—would have a somewhat different structure and greater power than their Democratic counterparts.

The party first became nationally known when one of its members, John C. Fremont, was nominated for President. The Republican platform was publicized with Fremont's slogan “free soil, free labor, free speech, free men, and Fremont.” The attempt to win the presidency was genuine, but with the Republican Party still a third party, it was unlikely one of its candidates would win. It was not until four years later that a Republican made it into the White House. The first Republican president was Abraham Lincoln. Success at the presidential level opened a completely new set of doors for the Republican Party; it finally had its chance to fulfill its original platform. Lincoln took the first step for the party's platform by signing the Emancipation Proclamation; later the party was able to pass the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments, all supporting African-American rights. Some say that it was Lincoln's leadership during the Civil War and his time in office that led the Republicans into a “period of dominance” that lasted over 50 years.

State party organizations for the GOP took on the critical task of developing a voting base from disenchanted Whigs and Northern Democrats, asserting an electoral role for the party organizations at a very early stage. The state organizations still exert a great deal of leverage over national party decision-making. The mission of state organizations really falls into three distinct, though intertwined, roles: liaison between the local organizations and the national party, electoral mechanism, and power within the state political apparatus.

In the first role, that of liaison between the local organizations, individuals, and Republican-oriented groups within the state, the state party functions as an “interest aggregator,” representing, through its delegates to the Republican National Committee, the interests of Republicans and their supporters in the state. It is in this role that the state organization will nominate persons to the National Platform Committee, advise the national party on issues of policy, and work with the national party to raise awareness of national initiatives by the party as manifested in that state.

The second role, that of an electioneering organization, is the function with which most people are familiar. Here, the state party organizes, sets many of the rules for, and takes responsibility for the state's party primary, convention, or caucus (depending on the state). The state party also raises and disperses party money for local candidates, launches advertising campaigns for electoral purposes, recruits candidates for office, and acts as a conduit between the national party's efforts and local candidates and their organizations, coordinating efforts to gain office. Finally, the state party is the local representative of, and to, the national party in policy efforts. It is in these roles that state GOP organizations disseminate the party's position on various issues and pass them down to the rank and file.

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