" The party
formally declared itself to be a "union of the labor forces of
the United States," for "the interests of rural and city labor
are the same; their enemies identical."
These national movements prior to 1896 are not, however, an
adequate index of the political strength of labor in partisan
endeavor. Organized labor was more of a power in local and state
elections, perhaps because in these cases its pressure was more
direct, perhaps because it was unable to cope with the great
national organization of the older parties. During these years of
effort to gain a footing in the Federal Government, there are
numerous examples of the success of the labor party in state
elections. As early as 1872 the labor reformers nominated state
tickets in Pennsylvania and Connecticut. In 1875 they nominated
Wendell Phillips for Governor of Massachusetts. In 1878, in
coalition with the Greenbackers, they elected many state officers
throughout the West. Ten years later, when the Union Labor party
was at its height, labor candidates were successful in several
municipalities. In 1888 labor tickets were nominated in many
Western States, including Colorado, Indiana, Kansas, Minnesota,
Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, and Wisconsin. Of these
Kansas cast the largest labor vote, with nearly 36,000, and
Missouri came next with 15,400. In the East, however, the showing
of the party in state elections was far less impressive.
In California the political labor movement achieved a singular
prominence.
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