House Speaker Paul Ryan defeats Republican primary challenger in Wisconsin

By Seema Mehta

Aug. 9, 2016 8:35 PM PT

Reporting from JANESVILLE, Wis. — House Speaker Paul D. Ryan easily beat back an insurgent challenger in Tuesday’s Republican primary in Wisconsin, a win that sets him up for a 10th term in Congress and an uneasy relationship with the next president.

The nine-term congressman was so confident he would beat businessman Paul Nehlen that he barely campaigned — even after Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump expressed kind words for Nehlen before he belatedly endorsed Ryan last week.

The race was framed as a clash between Trump’s insurgent wing of the GOP and the party’s conservative establishment, but polls predicted that Ryan would win in a blowout.

Nehlen’s supporters hoped he would pull an upset, citing college professor David Brat’s stunning 2014 win over then-House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in Virginia.

But unlike Cantor, Ryan retains deep ties to the district where he was born. He returns to his wife and three children in Janesville nearly every weekend.

“Right here in Wisconsin people know me very well,” he told reporters after his victory.

He pledged to work to advance a conservative agenda that unites the nation, and reiterated his support of Trump as more receptive than Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton to the Republican agenda in Congress.

Ryan, 46, was his party’s vice presidential nominee in 2012, giving him a national profile even before he became speaker last fall. As speaker, he is the highest elected Republican in the country and behind only the vice president in the line of White House succession.

Back home, Ryan is a common sight at parades, fish fries and ethnic festivals.

“He’s a hometown guy,” said Vickie Berg, 50, who said she had met Ryan and his family several times at church. “He’s sincere. Very down to earth, very personable.”

“I’ve known him for 20 years. It’s a personal thing,” said Howie Jones, a 39-year-old auto mechanic, before casting a ballot for Ryan. “I think he’s doing a good job.”

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.

An unknown until recently, Nehlen was one of the few GOP candidates in a competitive race to embrace Trump and his controversial statements.

He also received some notable support – former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin endorsed him, and conservative author Ann Coulter campaigned with him last weekend.

“America’s at a crossroads, and either we can go down the path of globalist special interests, or we can go down the path of America first and empower the people that are actually doing the work in this country,” said Andy Stempki, as he held a Nehlen sign outside a Janesville polling station. “That’s why I’m for Mr. Nehlen, and that’s why I think Mr. Ryan’s time for retirement is coming soon.”

The 35-year-old sailboat captain from Kenosha dismissed the pre-election polls, saying they failed to capture voters’ deep frustration with the political establishment in Washington.

“We’ve been [knocking] at doors for three months. We know all about what the people are saying,” he said. “It’s a matter of whether our people come out or not.”

During recent appearances in the district, Ryan did not mention Nehlen, focusing instead on a six-pronged policy platform and his beloved Green Bay Packers.

But his campaign spent hundreds of thousands of dollars airing television ads that highlighted Ryan’s support for controlling the border with Mexico and stopping Islamic terrorists from entering the United States, an acknowledgment that they saw Nehlen’s message resonating with voters.

Nehlen’s supporters conceded he faced an uphill battle against a popular incumbent. Some said they wanted to send a message.

“Ryan hasn’t done anything,” said Jo Yungerman, 60, adding that she wished Ryan had more actively fought against the Affordable Care Act and against legalizing same-sex marriage. “We need change. We need fresh blood.”

Times staff writer Kurtis Lee contributed to this report.

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UPDATES:

8:35 p.m.: The story was updated with a comment from Ryan.

6:35 p.m.: The story was updated with results of the election.

The story was originally published at 3:15 p.m.