House Speaker Paul Ryan crushed his insurgent challenger in their Tuesday primary, multiple outlets report.
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Nehlen is a longshot: Polls in Wisconsin have consistently shown Ryan hovering above 80% support.
He also received some notable support – former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin endorsed him, and conservative author Ann Coulter campaigned with him last weekend.
Nehlen took a populist tack in the campaign, railing against Ryan as a tool of corporate interests and donors whose immigration and trade policies harm American workers.
But the odds had remained long that Ryan would lose, even in this year’s volatile political environment.
Ryan had other advantages, including widespread popularity in the district where he was first elected in 1998.
“There is a lot of anger that Washington just isn’t working”, Ryan said in his victory speech. And Trump lost Ryan’s district to Ted Cruz by 19 percentage points in Wisconsin’s presidential primary.
Look for updates as WPR’s primary election coverage continues.
Nehlen, of Delavan, held a primary night party with supporters at a Holiday Inn Express about five miles away from Ryan.
He rarely spoke directly about Nehlen and declined to address any of his campaign attacks.
There were about 100 blue-collar workers at this plant, where Ryan fielded a handful of questions from employees, including one on the Green Bay Packers’ chances this year.
During an interview with Business Insider last week, Nehlen called Ryan a “soulless globalist”, yet expressed skepticism that Trump’s praise would lead to his victory.
Those gestures thrust Mr. Nehlen into the middle of an intraparty feud between Mr. Trump and Mr. Ryan, the Republican vice-presidential nominee in 2012.
“I am humbled and honored that Wisconsinites in the 1st Congressional District support my efforts to keep fighting on their behalf”.
Ryan was asked if Nehlen’s resounding defeat was a bellwether for whether Donald Trump was “doomed” in the general election. He also has denounced a number of actions by the billionaire, including his plan to bar Muslim immigration to the US and his attacks on a Gold Star family and on a Hispanic-American judge.
Sonya Naryshkin, left, and Bob Vezzani, right, applaud as Paul Nehlen speaks Tuesday, Aug. 9, 2016, in Janesville, Wis., after losing to House Speaker Paul Ryan in Wisconsin’s primary.
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This is Ryan’s first re-election win since becoming speaker last fall.
