Haugen was often associated with and served as a political ally of Robert M. La Follette, Sr. Wisconsin Republican Party dissidents who joined La Follette became known as the Progressive faction. Progressives stressed the need for more direct voter control and championed consumer rights. Their call for reform gained more support after the Panic of 1893 shook up the economic, class, and ethnic assumptions held by many Americans. In 1894, the Progressives began to openly campaign for leadership of the Republican Party in Wisconsin. Nils Haugen sought the party nomination for governor in 1894 and Robert La Follette followed in 1896 and 1898.