An executive at a water-filtration plant who moved to Wisconsin two years ago, Nehlen launched his campaign in April and opened an office in Kenosha, a town on the lip of Lake Michigan that sits on the district’s eastern border.
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Ryan now faces Ryan Solen of Mount Pleasant, who the AP declared the victor of the Democratic primary, in the November 8 general election.
On Tuesday night, the tension between the GOP presidential nominee and the House Speak remained evident. “We got the votes we were hoping and expecting to get all along”. It’s simple to prey on people’s fears. That stuff sells, but it doesn’t stick.It doesn’t last.
Paul Nehlen, who was backed by Sarah Palin and Ann Coulter, focused his campaign on Ryan’s establishment ties and linked himself to Trump’s outsider status. But they also could be read as an implicit critique of Trump, whose tone and approach to politics are far more slashing and confrontational than Ryan’s. Ryan won his first congressional election in 1998.
“When you get to the end zone, you act like you’ve been there before”, Ryan said at the National Guard Armory in Janesville. “You should never joke about something like that”.
Bob and Maureen Becker said they’re familiar with Ryan from the 40 years he’s spent in Janesville, and that he went to high school with their daughters.
But Trump’s muddled intervention in the race last week introduced a possible wild card into an otherwise low-profile campaign, sparking a sudden, heavy dose of national attention.
Trump’s language was an apparent allusion to a May interview, conducted right after Trump became the party’s presumptive nominee, in which Ryan said he was not ready to support him for president.
Trump then refused to endorse Ryan until last Friday. They included Joanne Simenson, who called Ryan “a big spender, just like the rest of them”. He says he doesn’t agree with Nehlen’s positions and he’s only been in the state a short time.
State elections officials say there have been complaints about improper electioneering by supporters of Paul Nehlen, who’s running against House Speaker Paul Ryan in Wisconsin’s 1st Congressional District. He challenged Ryan to an arm-wrestling match if he wouldn’t debate him.
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Ryan’s primary here was a microcosm for the forces with which he will be contending as he leads House Republicans this fall.
