Robert La Follette, now a political pariah, campaigns unsuccessfully in 1896 for governor of Wisconsin against the corrupt state party machine.

According to his autobiography, La Follette had experienced a political epiphany in 1891 after Senator Philetus Sawyer attempted to bribe him.

La Follette claimed that Sawyer offered the bribe so that La Follette would influence his brother-in-law, Judge Robert G. Siebecker, who was presiding over a case involving state funds that Republican officials had allegedly embezzled.

La Follette's public allegation of bribery had precipitated a split with many friends and party leaders, though he continued to support Republican candidates like John Coit Spooner.

He also strongly endorses McKinley's successful run for president in the 1896 election, and he denounces Democratic presidential nominee William Jennings Bryan as a radical.

Rather than bolting the party or retiring from politics, La Follette begins building a coalition of dissatisfied Republicans, many of whom are relatively young and well-educated.

Among his key allies are former governor William D. Hoard and Isaac Stephenson, the latter of whom publish a pro-La Follette newspaper.

La Follette's coalition also includes many individuals from the state's large Scandinavian population, including Nils P. Haugen, Irvine Lenroot, and James O. Davidson.

Beginning in 1894, La Follette's coalition had focused on winning the office of Governor of Wisconsin.

With La Follette serving as his campaign manager, Haugen had sought the Republican nomination for governor in 1894, but he was defeated by William H. Upham.

La Follette runs for the Republican gubernatorial nomination in 1896, but he os beaten by Edward Scofield; La Follette alleges that Scofield only won the nomination after conservative party leaders bribed some Republican delegates.

La Follette declines to run as an independent despite the pleas of some supporters, and after the election he turns down an offer from President McKinley to serve as the Comptroller of the Currency.