Paul Ryan hopes to avert primary surprise after Trump tweak

Nehlen, who is challenging incumbent House Speaker Paul Ryan in the primary, spoke to the controversy after casting his ballot in Delavan Tuesday morning.

House Speaker Paul Ryanis projected to easily defeat a challenger in tonight’s Wisconsin primaries, the Associated Press projects. During the campaign, Ryan mostly ignored the upstart Nehlen, who was largely an afterthought until recently, when Trump praised him.

“I am humbled and honored that Wisconsinites in the 1st Congressional District support my efforts to keep fighting on their behalf”, said a statement Ryan released late Tuesday. “We received the vote that we were hoping and expecting to get all along”, Ryan said.

Nehlen, who has used the Trump-Ryan row to his own benefit, said the presidential contest and the congressional race are centered around what he described as a situation in which the American people are repeatedly being lied to.

The primary’s other top race was in northeastern Wisconsin, where GOP Rep. Reid Ribble’s retirement opened a swing congressional seat. Sen.

Just a week before the primary, GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump publicly thanked Nehlen for his support and told The Washington Post he wasn’t ready to endorse Ryan – a move that came as payback for Ryan’s slow-walked Trump endorsement in the spring.

Mr. Ryan withheld his endorsement from Mr. Trump even after the billionaire businessman wrapped up the nomination in May, and Mr. Trump seemed to be getting some payback in recent weeks when he withheld his endorsement from Mr. Ryan – who was still entrenched in a primary.

Ryan took over his speaker position after John Boehner retired in 2015.

Ryan now faces Ryan Solen of Mount Pleasant, who the AP declared the victor of the Democratic primary, in the November 8 general election. That stuff sells, but it doesn’t stick.

Ryan was hoping to avoid the same kind of shocking loss that ended then-House Majority Leader Eric Cantor’s political career in 2014, when he lost to a tea party challenger in the primary.

Trump relented just three days later after coming under criticism from GOP leaders, but the burst of publicity was priceless for Nehlen, an executive at a water filtration company. He challenged Ryan to an arm-wrestling match if he refused to debate him.

He ran well to Ryan’s right, accusing Ryan of betraying Trump and favoring a “globalist agenda” of disastrous trade deals and porous borders. Trump eventually changed course and endorsed Ryan last weekend.