Republican candidates * William H. Taft, President of the United States from Ohio * Theodore Roosevelt, former President of the United States * Robert M. LaFollette, U.S. senator from Wisconsin By 1910 the split in the Republican party was evident. The conservative wing, lead by Taft, favored business and judicial supremacy. Roosevelt and his more progressive supporters on the other hand pushed against the courts, favored labor unions and opposed tariffs on manufactured products. During the Taft administration the split deepened.