House Speaker Paul Ryan overwhelming won his primary against his Tea Party challenger, Paul Nehlen, in the race for Wisconsin’s 1st Congressional District Tuesday evening.
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With 80 percent of the vote counted, Ryan had 84 percent and Nehlen had 16 percent, according to the AP.
Ryan was asked if Nehlen’s resounding defeat was a bellwether for whether Donald Trump was “doomed” in the general election.
But Ryan will continue to face stiff political challenges as speaker, and his balancing act on Trump – endorsing while criticizing – will continue to draw fire from Trump’s critics and supporters alike.
Ryan took his time endorsing Trump, and the nominee followed suit last week, drawing ire from others in the GOP. Trump’s brief foray into Ryan’s race appeared to be payback for that move.
“I am humbled and honoured that Wisconsinites in the 1st Congressional District support my efforts to keep fighting on their behalf”, Ryan said in a statement. He has won the distinct by double-digit margins every two years since 1998. Ryan planned to speak after a victor is declared in his congressional race against longshot Republican challenger Paul Nehlen.
Speaking ahead of the result, several voters in Mr Ryan’s hometown of Janesville said they backed him.
Ryan has served in Congress since 1999.
Still, Ryan remains on record supporting Trump’s candidacy.
Ryan disagreed over the weekend with the suggestion that “A Better Way” could become a vehicle for House Republicans to mount a campaign detached from Trump, should the party’s presidential nominee see his poll numbers slide.
“I know (Ryan’s) going to win, but it sends a message”, Simenson said.
Ken Staszak, voting in Green Bay, called Gallagher “the more conservative of the candidates” and said he “seems like he wouldn’t take any crap”.
Nehlen, 47, had portrayed Ryan as as a “soulless globalist” on issues such as trade and immigration, and accused him of “repeated betrayal” of Trump. The day before the election, Ryan toured local businesses and never mentioned the race or the fact that he has a primary challenge.
Janesville City Clerk Dave Godak told News 3 signs were put up on polling place property and its terrace Tuesday. In July, Nehlen held a press conference outside Ryan’s Janesville, Wisconsin, home with mothers of children who had been killed by undocumented immigrants.
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Taking to Twitter, where he has millions of followers, as he vacillated last week over whether to back Ryan, Trump had a warm exchange with Nehlen, a businessman with tattooed biceps who has cast himself as a Trump acolyte – and gave his campaign a jolt.
