Registered Republicans elect County Committee Members and State Party Members by county or by district in the primary election in which a governor is to be elected. County Party Members serve on the County Committee and elect a Chairman and Vice Chairman. State Party Members and County Chairman serve on the State Party and elect a Chairman and Vice Chairman to a four-year term. State Party Members also elect a National Committeeman and National Committeewoman to represent Pennsylvania on the Republican National Committee to elect a National Chairman.

Republican Party Organization

Republican Voters
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County Committee Members
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State Party Members
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County Chairman
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National Committee Members
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State Chairman
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National Chairman

“Free soil, free labor, free speech, free men”

As an answer to divided politics and turmoil within the other parties, particularly over slavery, the Republican Party was formed by political factions who did not agree on every issue or the importance of each issue in the 1850s. The opposition to government tyranny, human enslavement, and government fees to settle Western lands gave birth to the people’s party.

In 1856, the Republicans nominated John C. Fremont for President under the slogan: “Free soil, free labor, free speech, free men, Fremont.” The Republicans, a third-party at the time, lost the election but won 33% of the vote. Four years later, with a belief in a mobile middle class and entrepreneurship, Abraham Lincoln became the first Republican elected President of the United States.

The Civil War erupted in 1861 and lasted for four punishing years. The Emancipation Proclamation, that freed the slaves, was signed by President Lincoln during the war. After the war, Republicans worked to pass the Thirteenth Amendment, which outlawed slavery; the Fourteenth Amendment, which guaranteed equal protection under the laws and gave African-Americans citizenship; and the Fifteenth Amendment, which gave voting rights to African-Americans. Republicans continued to demolish race and gender barriers in the United States. In 1896 the Republican Party was the first to support women’s suffrage and when the 19th Amendment was ratified, it was Republican controlled state legislatures that passed it.

The Republican Party has long been the Party of individuals over government, equal rights, and the belief that decisions can best be made close to home. Once again, individual Republicans are standing up and demanding the primacy of individuals, the reduction of government, and the return of power to the states, as their Party has done since its inception.

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