The 1904 Wisconsin gubernatorial election was held on November 8, 1904.
Incumbent Republican Governor Robert M. La Follette defeated Democratic nominee George Wilbur Peck and Social-Democratic nominee William A. Arnold with 50.55% of the vote.
In the aftermath of the 1902 election, the state legislature enacted the direct primary (subject to a statewide referendum) and La Follette's tax reform bill. The new tax law, which required railroads to pay taxes based on property owned rather than profits, resulted in railroads paying nearly double the amount of taxes they had paid before the enactment of the law.[1] Having accomplished his first two major goals, La Follette next focused on regulating railroad rates, but the railroads prevented passage of his bill in 1903.[2] During this period, La Follette became increasingly convinced of the need for a direct income tax in order to minimize tax avoidance by the wealthy.[3] During his governorship, La Follette appointed African-American William Miller for a position in his office.[4]
The Wisconsin Republican party split in the run up to the election due to the incumbent governor Robert La Follette's embrace of progressive ideas such as a state income tax and greater regulation of the railroads. There were two Republican conventions for the Republican nomination, one for La Follette's and one backed by more conservative elements of the Republican party.
After the legislature adjourned in mid-1903, La Follette began lecturing on the Chautauqua circuit, delivering 57 speeches across the Midwest.[5] He also earned the attention of muckraker journalists like Ray Stannard Baker and Lincoln Steffens, many of whom supported La Follette's progressive agenda.[6] La Follette's continued movement towards progressivism alienated many Republican Party leaders, and La Follette's followers and conservative party leaders held separate conventions in 1904; ultimately, the state Supreme Court declared that La Follette was the Republican Party's 1904 gubernatorial nominee.[7]
Major party candidates
Other candidates
In the general election in Wisconsin that year, La Follette won 51 percent of the vote, but he ran far behind Republican President Theodore Roosevelt, who took 63 percent of the Wisconsin's vote in the national election by comparison. In that same election, Wisconsin voters approved the implementation of the direct primary.[11]
During the 1904 campaign, La Follette pledged that he would not resign as governor during his term, but after winning re-election he directed state representative Irvine Lenroot, a close political ally, to secure his election to the United States Senate.[16] Shortly after La Follette delivered the inaugural message of his third term as governor, Lenroot began meeting with other legislators to assure that La Follette would be able to win election to the Senate; at that time, the state legislature elected senators.[17] La Follette was formally nominated by the Republican caucus on January 23, 1905, and the state legislature chose him the following day.[18] La Follette delayed accepting the nomination and continued to serve as governor until December 1905, when he announced his resignation.[19][20] Throughout 1905, La Follette continued to push his progressive policies, including the state regulation of railroad rates. The state legislature passed a relatively weak regulation bill that La Follette considered vetoing, but he ultimately signed the law.[21] Lieutenant Governor James O. Davidson succeeded La Follette as governor and went on to win re-election in 1906.[22]