Login
Login

Republican Main Street Partnership#Republican Main Street Caucus

{{Short description|Republican Party (United States) nonprofit organization}}

{{redirect|Main Street Partnership|a similar term|Main Street Republicans}}

{{Infobox company

| name = Republican Main Street Partnership

| logo = Republican Main Street Partnership logo.png

| logo_size = 260px

| key_people = Sarah Chamberlain (President, CEO)

| founded = {{start date and age|1994|05}}{{cn|date=January 2024}}

| website = {{URL|http://republicanmainstreet.org}}

| type = 501(c)(4){{cite web | url=https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/591828852/202303109349300060/full | title=Republican Main Street Partnership, Full Filing - Nonprofit Explorer | date=2022-12-31 }}

| revenue = {{US$|1.8}}{{nbsp}}million

| revenue_year = 2022

| net_income = {{US$|416.7}}{{nbsp}}thousand

| net_income_year = 2022

| hq_location = Washington, D.C., U.S.

}}

{{Conservatism US}}

The Republican Main Street Partnership is a nonprofit organization that was founded to raise funds to support politicians in the moderate wing of the Republican Party. As of 2024, the organization seems to be leaning away from its original centrist mission.{{Cite news |last=Karni |first=Annie |date=2024-03-15 |title=Mainstream G.O.P. Group to Target Bob Good as It Shifts Mission and Members |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/15/us/politics/mainstream-gop-group-to-target-bob-good-as-it-shifts-mission-and-members.html |access-date=2025-03-24 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}} The Republican Main Street Partnership does not advocate for legislation but offers networking and mentorship opportunities and provides a forum for discussion. The partnership is affiliated with a super PAC called Defending Main Street.{{Cite web|url=https://rollcall.com/2021/06/24/republican-main-street-partnership-revamps-sets-high-fundraising-goal/|title='Main Street' GOP group revamps, sets high fundraising goal|first=Herb|last=Jackson|date=June 24, 2021|website=Roll Call}} The partnership is also affiliated with the Republican Main Street Caucus, a Republican congressional member organization that takes pragmatic conservative positions.{{citation needed|date=April 2024}}

History

=Formation and activity=

Rep. Amo Houghton of New York was the founder and chairman emeritus of the Republican Main Street Partnership.

The partnership was formed following the 1994 United States House of Representatives elections in which conservative Republicans were swept into power. An informal discussion group formed by representatives Nancy Johnson, Steve Gunderson and Fred Upton later became an organized bloc intent on representing the moderate wing of the Republican Party. The partnership has described itself as a "broad alliance of conservative, governing Republicans".{{Cite web|title=Who We Are|url=https://www.republicanmainstreet.org/about|access-date=January 19, 2024|website=RMSP|language=en}}{{better source|date=January 2024}}

In 2004, the Republican Main Street Partnership proposed changes that would have moved the Republican Party's platform regarding abortion and stem-cell research in a moderate direction.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/25/us/2004-campaign-republican-agenda-draft-gop-platform-backs-bush-security-gay.html|title=The 2004 Campaign: The Republican Agenda – Draft G.O.P. Platform Backs Bush on Security, Gay Marriage and Immigration|last=Kirkpatrick|first=David D.|date=25 August 2004|work=The New York Times|access-date=9 January 2020 |language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}

Members of Congress affiliated with the partnership have been challenged in Republican primaries by members from the Club for Growth, FreedomWorks and the Tea Party movement, among others.{{cite web|url=http://www.clubforgrowth.org/perm/?postID=1245|title=Club for Growth|publisher=Club for Growth|access-date=February 23, 2016}}{{better source|date=January 2024}} The partnership had a notably adversarial relationship with the fiscally conservative Club for Growth. In 2011, however, the director of the partnership stated that the two groups had "'come to an understanding'".{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2011/06/16/137205111/republican-group-targets-its-own-party|title=Republican Group Targets Its Own Party|website=NPR|date=16 June 2011|access-date=February 23, 2016|last1=Halloran|first1=Liz}}

The partnership is affiliated with a super PAC called Defending Main Street.

=Republican Main Street Caucus=

In September 2017, the Republican Main Street Caucus was formed with Pat Tiberi (OH–12) as chair. The caucus is a Republican congressional member organization that takes pragmatic conservative positions.{{citation needed|date=April 2024}} Upon its formation, the caucus stated that it would prioritize "'strong, conservative principles related to economic and national security policy'". Tiberi added, "'We are focused on getting things done and delivering real results to the American people'".{{Cite web|url=https://www.cleveland.com/metro/2017/09/old_republican_group_forms_new.html|title=Republican Main Street Partnership forms new Capitol Hill caucus with Ohio ties|last=Eaton|first=Sabrina|date=September 8, 2017|website=cleveland.com}} After Tiberi's resignation from the House in 2018, Rodney Davis (IL–13) took over duties as chair.{{Cite web|url=https://thehill.com/homenews/house/359520-qa-with-rep-rodney-davis/|title=Is there room for another GOP caucus? Main Street chairman says yes|first=Scott|last=Wong|website=The Hill|date=November 9, 2017}}

==Dissolution of the Republican Main Street Caucus==

In the 2018 United States House of Representatives elections, the Democratic Party won a majority of the seats in the House of Representatives. The Democrats gained a net total of 41 seats. This total was their largest gain of House seats in an election since the 1974 elections.{{cite web |last1=Davis |first1=Susan |title=Meltdown On Main Street: Inside The Breakdown Of The GOP's Moderate Wing |url= https://www.npr.org/2019/08/23/753404051/meltdown-on-main-street-inside-the-breakdown-of-the-gops-moderate-wing |website=NPR|access-date=July 10, 2020}}

On November 28, 2018, the Republican Main Street Caucus met with the Republican Main Street Partnership to ask why the partnership's super PAC had left $722,000 of its funds unspent. The partnership's chief executive officer, Sarah Chamberlain, said that $6{{nbsp}}million had been spent on 2018 campaigns and that the remaining $722,000 was set aside for 2020. Members of the caucus expressed concern that Chamberlain's compensation was 20{{nbsp}}percent of the partnership's operating expenses. The following month, the caucus voted unanimously to suspend political activity with the partnership until an independent audit of the partnership's governance could be conducted. The partnership declined to be audited. An NPR story about the turmoil involving the partnership led to litigation.

The members of the caucus voted to dissolve the caucus in February 2019.

==Re-formation of the Republican Main Street Caucus==

By 2021, the Republican Main Street Caucus had re-formed. As of 2023, it had once again become one of the major Republican caucuses in the House of Representatives. The caucus identifies itself as a group of pragmatic conservatives. It is affiliated with the Republican Main Street Partnership.{{citation needed|date=April 2024}} The caucus has also been described as "centrist"{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/oct/04/republican-house-speaker-steve-scalise-jim-jordan|title=Republicans Jim Jordan and Steve Scalise launch House speakership bids|first1=Martin|last1=Pengelly|first2=Joan E.|last2=Greve|date=October 4, 2023|newspaper=The Guardian}} and "mainstream".{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2023/10/12/scalises-potentially-fatal-mistake/|website=washingtonpost.com |title=Scalise's potentially fatal mistake |date=October 12, 2023}}

== Shift away from centrist Republicanism ==

According to an article published in the New York Times in March 2024, it seems the organization is moving away from its centrist politics. "The Republican Main Street Partnership ...directed half a million dollars...to defeat Representative Bob Good, a hard-right lawmaker from Virginia, making an unusual push to oust a sitting Republican member of Congress. The move [wa]s notable... because the candidate it [wa]s backing — John J. McGuire, a former member of the Navy SEALs and an election denier who has pledged fealty to former president Donald J. Trump and promised to bring a “biblical worldview” to Congress — bears so little resemblance to the kind of moderate Republican the Main Street Partnership was founded to support."{{Cite news |last=Karni |first=Annie |date=2024-03-15 |title=Mainstream G.O.P. Group to Target Bob Good as It Shifts Mission and Members |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/15/us/politics/mainstream-gop-group-to-target-bob-good-as-it-shifts-mission-and-members.html |access-date=2025-03-24 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}

Affiliated members of Congress

File:Republican Main Street Partnership in the 118th Congress.svg]]

As of January 2025, the partnership listed eight U.S. senators and 79 U.S. representatives as being affiliated with it.{{Cite web |title=RMSP Congressional Members |url=https://www.republicanmainstreet.org/members |access-date=January 23, 2025 |website=RMSP |language=en}}

= U.S. senators =

= U.S. representatives =

{{div col|colwidth=20em}}

{{div col end}}

Former members

= Representatives =

{{div col|colwidth=25em}}

{{div col end}}

See also

References

{{reflist|2}}

External links

  • {{official website|https://www.republicanmainstreet.org/}}

{{Republican Party (United States)}}

Category:Non-profit organizations based in Washington, D.C.

Category:501(c)(4) nonprofit organizations

Main Street Partnership

Category:Centrism in the United States

Category:Centrist political advocacy groups in the United States

Category:Factions in the Republican Party (United States)

Category:Fiscal conservatism