Republican Party (United States)
American political party / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The United States Republican Party, also known as the GOP (Grand Old Party) is one of the two biggest political parties in the United States. Since the mid-1850s, the party's main opponent has been the Democratic Party. Both political parties have controlled American politics ever since.
Republican Party | |
---|---|
Abbreviation | GOP |
Chairperson | Michael Whatley |
Governing body | Republican National Committee |
Speaker of the House | Mike Johnson |
Senate Minority Leader | Mitch McConnell |
House Majority Leader | Steve Scalise |
Founders | Alvan E. Bovay[1] Henry J. Raymond[2] ... and others
|
Founded | March 20, 1854; 170 years ago (1854-03-20) Ripon, Wisconsin, U.S. |
Merger of | Whig Party[3][4][5][6] Free Soil Party[7] Anti-Nebraska movement[8] |
Headquarters | 310 First Street SE, Washington, D.C., U.S. |
Student wing | College Republicans High School Republican National Federation |
Youth wing |
|
Women's wing | National Federation of Republican Women |
Overseas wing | Republicans Overseas |
LGBT wing | Log Cabin Republicans[lower-alpha 1] |
Ideology | Factions: |
Political position | Center-right[15] to right-wing[16] |
International affiliation |
|
Caucuses | Problem Solvers Caucus Republican Governance Group Republican Main Street Caucus Republican Study Committee Freedom Caucus |
Colors | Red |
Senate | 49 / 100 |
House of Representatives | 220 / 435 |
State Governors | 27 / 50 |
State upper chambers | 1,110 / 1,973 |
State lower chambers | 2,948 / 5,413 |
Territorial Governors | 0 / 5 |
Territorial upper chambers | 12 / 97 |
Territorial lower chambers | 9 / 91 |
Election symbol | |
Website | |
gop |
The party sits at the right-wing of the American political spectrum, with the Democratic Party being positioned to their left. However, there also factions of the Republican Party that are center-right to far-right. One of the most famous far-right members of the party is Donald Trump, the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Ideologically, Republicans favor fiscal and social conservatism.[18] It opposes abortion,[19] euthanasia, labor unions, affirmative action,[20] marijuana legalization, and a high minimum wage.[21] It advocates for low taxes,[22] limited government,[23] gun rights,[24] free markets, and free trade.[25] It did, however, hold protectionist opinions during its early days,[26] for example during Theodore Roosevelt’s presidency. It also held anti-free trade opinions during Donald Trump’s presidency.[27]
The symbol of the Republican party is the elephant. This symbol was first used in 1874 in a political cartoon by Thomas Nast.[28]
The Republican National Committee, or the RNC, is the main organization for the Republican Party in all 50 states. The Republican Party is not the same political party as the Democratic-Republican Party. A state where most voters vote for Republican politicians is called a red state.