And Walker Makes 10

Governor Scott Walker’s entrance into the 2016 race for the GOP presidential nomination brings the tally of major party Wisconsin politicians who ran for the White House to 10 since statehood. The state’s first 100 years produced six favorite-son candidates: Democrats Henry Dodge (1852), James Doolittle (1868), and Edward Wall (1904) and Republicans Jeremiah Rusk (1888), Robert La Follette (1908, 1912, 1916, 1920, 1924), and John Blaine (1932). Democrat John Reynolds and GOP Congressman John Byrnes each won the 1964 Wisconsin presidential primary but both released their delegates to Lyndon Johnson and Barry Goldwater respectively. Walker joins Republican Tommy Thompson (2008) as the only Wisconsinites to launch bona fide campaigns for the White House in the modern political era. For a detailed history of Wisconsin presidential candidacies click here.