The Republican Party was born in the early 1850’s by anti-slavery  activists and individuals who believed that government should grant  western lands to settlers free of charge. The first informal meeting of  the party took place in Ripon, Wisconsin, a small town northwest of  Milwaukee. The first official Republican meeting took place on July 6th,  1854 in Jackson, Michigan. The name “Republican” was chosen because it  alluded to equality and reminded individuals of Thomas Jefferson’s  Democratic-Republican Party. At the Jackson convention, the new party  adopted a platform and nominated candidates for office in Michigan.  

In 1856, the Republicans became a national party when John C. Fremont  was nominated for President under the slogan: “Free soil, free labor,  free speech, free men, Fremont.” Even though they were considered a  “third party” because the Democrats and Whigs represented the two-party  system at the time, Fremont received 33% of the vote. Four years later,  Abraham Lincoln became the first Republican to win the White House. 

 The Civil War erupted in 1861 and lasted four grueling years. During the  war, against the advice of his cabinet, Lincoln signed the Emancipation  Proclamation that freed the slaves. The Republicans of the day worked  to pass the Thirteenth Amendment, which outlawed slavery, the  Fourteenth, which guaranteed equal protection under the laws, and the  Fifteenth, which helped secure voting rights for African-Americans.  

The Republican Party also played a leading role in securing women the  right to vote. In 1896, Republicans were the first major party to favor  women’s suffrage. When the 19th Amendment finally was added to the  Constitution, 26 of 36 state legislatures that had voted to ratify it  were under Republican control. The first woman elected to Congress was a  Republican, Jeanette Rankin from Montana in 1917.  

The Westmoreland County Republican Committee is located in downtown Greensburg, at 23 N Maple Ave, Greensburg, PA.

Our Committee has been extremely successful in recent elections, with  Republicans candidates achieving victory up and down the ballot.

In 2019 we flipped back the County Commissioners to a majority  Republican Board and won races all over the county by great margins.

In 2020 we increased our gains in our Westmoreland Legislative  Delegation and delivered over 63% of the vote for President Trump!  The  rest of the down ballot also did extremely well and statewide we won two  offices – PA Treasurer and PA Auditor General.

Thank you to everyone who supported this committee with your time and  resources, we were able to get our information into the hands of tens  of thousands of voters!