Maine Republican Party
|
Maine Republican Party
|
|
|---|---|
 |
|
| Chairman | Rick Bennett |
| Governor | Paul LePage |
| Senate leadership |
Michael Thibodeau (President of the Senate) |
| House leadership | Kenneth Fredette (Minority Leader) |
| Founded | August 7, 1854 |
| Headquarters | 9 Higgins Street Augusta, Maine 04330 |
| Ideology |
Conservatism Fiscal conservatism Social conservatism |
| National affiliation | Republican Party |
| Colors | Red (unofficial) |
| Seats in the US Senate |
1 / 2
|
| Seats in the US House |
1 / 2
|
| Seats in the Maine Senate |
18 / 35
|
| Seats in the Maine House |
72 / 151
|
| Website | |
| http://www.mainegop.com/ | |
The Maine Republican Party is an affiliate of the United States Republican Party (GOP) in Maine. It was founded in Strong, Maine on August 7, 1854.
The Maine GOP is noted for its historically strong state College Republican federation. Other affiliate groups include the Maine Federation of Republican Women and the Maine Federation of Young Republicans.
The Republican Party formed in Maine in 1854 due to Prohibition and the abolitionist movement. Hannibal Hamlin left the Democratic Party because of the slavery issue and helped form the Republican Party. He was the state's first Republican governor. In 1860, he became the first Republican Vice President after Abraham Lincoln won the presidency.
From the 1860s until 1900, James G. Blaine rose as a dominant Republican figure. He was the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, a U.S. Senator, and Secretary of State for three Republican administrations. He ran for President in 1884 but lost to Grover Cleveland. In the late 1800s, Thomas B. Reed served in the House of Representatives for three terms. He started many reforms and was sometimes referred to as "Czar Reed". "Reed's Rules of Order" are still used in Maine Legislatures.
Except for rare lapses, the Republicans dominated Maine politics until 1954, when young progressives from the Democratic Party gained strength.
Margaret Chase Smith was the first American woman elected to serve in both houses of Congress (elected to the House of Representatives in 1940 and the Senate in 1948). In 1964, she was placed in the nomination for presidency at the Republican National Convention.
On August 19, 2013, the resignation of seven members of the State Committee, viewed as libertarian and conservative, was announced along with their unenrollment from the Party. Those who resigned cited numerous grievances with the Party at both the state and national levels, including Party rule changes, support from Congressional Republicans of National Security Agency surveillance programs, and the failure of Legislative Republicans to block tax increases in the recently passed State budget.
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Wikipedia