THE CANDIDATE

Federal directory · 2026 cycle

Republican Party

The Republican Party — also known as the GOP — is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, founded in 1854 in opposition to the expansion of slavery.

See every 2026 Republican Party candidate

1005 of 1480 candidates have filed FEC reports; total raised: $897.2 million this 2026 cycle.

About the Republican Party

Federal candidates running on the Republican Party line.

History of the Republican Party

Founded
1854
Founder(s)
Alvan E. Bovay, Horace Greeley, Salmon P. Chase

The Republican Party was founded in 1854 in Ripon, Wisconsin by anti-slavery activists from the dissolving Whig Party, Free Soilers, and former Northern Democrats opposed to the Kansas–Nebraska Act's expansion of slavery into the western territories.[1][2] Alvan E. Bovay convened the founding meeting; the party's name was chosen to evoke the small-r republican tradition of Thomas Jefferson and to distinguish it from the increasingly pro-slavery Democratic Party.

Abraham Lincoln became the Republican Party's first president in 1860; his election precipitated Southern secession and the Civil War. The Republican Party dominated the federal government for the rest of the nineteenth century and through the 1920s, defined by its support for protective tariffs, hard currency, and post-war industrial expansion.[1][2]

The Republican Party realigned over the second half of the twentieth century. After Lyndon Johnson signed the 1964 Civil Rights Act, Richard Nixon's "Southern Strategy" and Ronald Reagan's 1980 coalition brought white Southern voters, Sun Belt suburbs, and evangelical Christians into the Republican base. The Donald Trump era (2016–) has further realigned the Republican Party around working-class white voters and a populist, nationalist policy frame.[1][2][3]

Sources

  1. [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party_(United_States)
  2. [2]https://ballotpedia.org/Republican_Party
  3. [3]https://www.gop.com

Republican Party platform

The Republican Party platform broadly emphasizes limited federal government, lower taxes, free-market economics, strong national defense, and socially conservative positions on issues such as abortion and immigration.

  1. 1. Tax policy

    Permanent extension of the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act's individual rate cuts, lower corporate taxes, and elimination of the estate tax.[1][3]

  2. 2. Immigration and border security

    Completion of the southern-border wall, expanded interior enforcement, ending birthright citizenship for children of undocumented immigrants, and stricter asylum rules.[1][3]

  3. 3. Energy production

    Expanded domestic oil, gas, and coal production; permitting reform for energy infrastructure; and withdrawal from international climate agreements that the party views as economically harmful.[1][3]

  4. 4. Second Amendment rights

    Defense of individual gun-ownership rights, opposition to new federal gun-control measures, and national concealed-carry reciprocity.[1][3]

  5. 5. Abortion

    Following the 2022 Dobbs v. Jackson decision, the Republican Party platform generally supports state-level regulation of abortion with federal protections for unborn life.[1][3]

Sources

  1. [1]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party_(United_States)
  2. [2]https://www.gop.com
  3. [3]https://ballotpedia.org/Republican_Party

Recent electoral performance — Republican Party

The Republican Party currently holds the U.S. Senate majority, the U.S. House majority, and the presidency. The 2024 election was a Republican trifecta sweep.

  • 2024 presidential vote: Donald Trump received roughly 50% of the national popular vote and won the Electoral College.[1][2]
  • 119th Congress (sworn January 2025): 53 Republican senators and 220 Republican House members.[2]
  • 2022 midterms: Republicans flipped the House majority but underperformed historical midterm gains, losing one Senate seat.[2]
  • State-level: Republican governors hold roughly 27 governorships heading into the 2026 cycle, including most Sun Belt and Plains states.[2]

Sources

  1. [1]https://ballotpedia.org/Republican_Party
  2. [2]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party_(United_States)

Current federal representation — Republican Party

Federal incumbents currently filing under the Republican Party for the 2026 cycle, sourced from FEC `cand_pty_affiliation = REP`.

232 current federal incumbents on the Republican Party line in the 2026 cycle.

U.S. House incumbents (211)

Republican Party candidates — 2026 cycle

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President

U.S. Senate

U.S. House

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