Andrew H. Dahl was born in Lewiston, Wisconsin in 1859 and educated locally and at the Northwestern Business College in Madison. As a prominent businessman in the town of Westby he held several municipal offices during the 1890s and in 1898, 1902, and 1904 he was elected to the State Assembly as a La Follette Progressive. During the 1905 session he was one of the floor leaders responsible for passage of the important Progressive railroad legislation. In 1906, 1908, and 1910 he was elected State Treasurer. In 1914 he ran for governor but was defeated in the primary. Subsequent to this defeat Dahl retired from active participation in politics. During the 1920s he aligned himself with the more conservative wing of the Republican Party, although he never broke personally with La Follette, and in 1925 he served as an honorary pallbearer at La Follette's funeral.
