The Socialist Party of Minnesota (from 1899 to 1902 the Social Democratic Party of Minnesota; from 1903 to 1913 the Public Ownership Party of Minnesota) was the state affiliate of the Springfield faction of the Social Democratic Party of America, the Socialist Party of America, and finally the Socialist Party USA in the U.S. state of Minnesota.
Socialist Party of Minnesota | |
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Founded | 1899 |
Dissolved | after 1980 but prior to 1988 |
Headquarters | Minneapolis |
Newspaper | New Times |
Membership (1914) | 5,600[1] |
Ideology | Socialism (American) |
Political position | Left-wing |
National affiliation | Social Democratic Party of America (Springfield faction) (1899–1901) Socialist Party of America (1901–1972) Socialist Party USA (1973–?) |
Colors | Dark red |
The state organization was established in 1899, when the Kangaroo faction bolted from the Socialist Labor Party of America in support of the American Federation of Labor and opposition to the internal regime of the SLP under Daniel DeLeon. Its initial electoral appearances were unimpressive, but it began to grow rapidly after 1905, and eventually became, together with the organizations in Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Oregon, North Dakota, Washington, New York, etc., one of the Socialist Party's stronger state organizations—even to the point where, in 1912, half of all of the counties carried by Eugene V. Debs were in Minnesota. But, in spite—or perhaps because—of its rapid growth, the Socialist Party of Minnesota soon also became a heavily contested battlefield for factional disputes within the SPA. This culminated in the period of 1914 though 1919, in which the Socialist Party of Minnesota was decimated by conflicts rooted first in differences of opinion regarding the United States' entry into World War I, and later disagreements over the Bolshevism question following the Russian Revolution. In addition to tearing itself apart, the party was also affected by shifts in public opinion during the First Red Scare, which made it increasingly difficult for the Socialist Party to access an audience.
The Socialist Party of Minnesota continued to exist after 1920, but in a severely weakened state. Many of its former members, such as William Mahoney, Thomas E. Latimer, and Thomas Van Lear, became active in the Farmer-Labor Party of Minnesota, which the former Van Lear faction of the Socialist Party helped to solidify after Van Lear was expelled from the Socialist Party. The Socialist Party of Minnesota itself participated in the Farmer-Labor Party's electoral coalition in state politics from the early 1920s into the mid 1930s. Meanwhile, the state organization continued to achieve ballot access for Norman Thomas in 1928, 1932, 1936, 1940, 1944, and 1948, although it was not able to secure ballot access for Darlington Hoopes in 1952 and 1956.
The Minnesota organization continued to send delegates to the national conventions of the Socialist Party through the 1960s, until the Social Democrats, USA were formed in 1972. Afterward, the Socialist Party of Minnesota reorganized as a part of the Socialist Party USA, sending delegates to the SPUSA's reorganizing convention in 1973. As a unit of the SPUSA, the Socialist Party of Minnesota was able to secure presidential ballot access in Minnesota for Frank Zeidler in 1976 and again for David McReynolds in 1980; however, the organization essentially disappeared at some point prior to 1988.
Year | Results | Candidates | Ref. | Notes | ||
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Votes | % | for President | for Vice President | |||
1900 | 3,065 | 0.97 | Eugene V. Debs (IN) | Job Harriman (CA) | [2][3] | [nb 2] |
1904 | 11,692 | 3.99 | Benjamin Hanford (NY) | [4][5] | [nb 3] | |
1908 | 14,527 | 4.38 | [6][7] | [nb 3] | ||
1912 | 27,505 | 8.23 | Emil Seidel (WI) | [8][9] | [nb 3] | |
1916 | 20,117 | 5.19 | Allan L. Benson (NY) | George Ross Kirkpatrick (NJ) | [10][11] | |
1920 | 56,106 | 7.62 | Eugene V. Debs (IN) | Seymour Stedman (IL) | [12][13] | |
1924 | 339,192 | 41.26 | Robert M. La Follette (WI) | Burton K. Wheeler (MT) | [14][15] | [nb 4] |
1928 | 6,774 | 0.70 | Norman Thomas (NY) | James H. Maurer (PA) | [16] | |
1932 | 25,476 | 2.54 | [17] | |||
1936 | 2,872 | 0.25 | George A. Nelson (WI) | [18] | ||
1940 | 5,454 | 0.44 | Maynard C. Krueger (IL) | [19] | ||
1944 | 5,073 | 0.45 | Darlington Hoopes (PA) | [20] | ||
1948 | 4,646 | 0.38 | Tucker P. Smith (MI) | [21] | ||
1976 | 354 | 0.02 | Frank Zeidler (WI) | J. Quinn Brisben (IL) | [22] | [nb 5] |
1980 | 536 | 0.03 | David McReynolds (NY) | Diane Drufenbrock (IN) | [23] | [nb 5][nb 6] |
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... Indeed, by October 1914 the central committee of the St. Louis County Socialist Party, now firmly under the control of the left-wing Finns and Scandinavians, recommended that Richard Jones, elected to the Minnesota Legislature from Duluth as a Socialist, be expelled from the party for pandering to non-Socialist votes ...