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Rep. Paul Ryan Wins Wisconsin Republican Primary
| Wall Street Journal | - |
Rep.
Paul Ryan handily won his primary election Tuesday in Wisconsin,
knocking off a GOP rival in a race that laid bare tensions between the
House speaker and the party's presidential nominee, Donald Trump.
Rep. Paul Ryan Wins Wisconsin Republican Primary
Mutual tension between Trump, Ryan has turned into side drama to this year’s presidential campaign
ENLARGE
House Speaker Paul
Ryan (R., Wis.) speaks at a press conference in Janesville, Wis., on
Tuesday after defeating challenger Paul Nehlen in the Republican
primary.
Photo:
Darren Hauck/Getty Images
Mr. Trump at first declined to endorse the nine-term congressman in his contest with water-filtration businessman Paul Nehlen. But after Mr. Trump’s running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, voiced his support for Mr. Ryan, Mr. Trump followed suit Friday.
Mr. Ryan was winning with 85% of the vote, compared with 15% for Mr. Nehlen, with 28% of precincts reporting, when the Associated Press declared Mr. Ryan the victor.
The mutual tension between Mr. Trump and the highest-ranking elected Republican has turned into a side drama to this year’s presidential campaign. Mr. Ryan is by no means the only Republican wrestling with how much support to lend the party’s presidential pick. On Monday, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine became the latest Republican lawmaker to say she couldn’t back Mr. Trump.
The struggle between Messrs. Ryan and Trump began in early May when Mr. Ryan said he wasn’t yet ready to endorse Mr. Trump. That was the same week the New York businessman became the party’s presumptive nominee.
‘It’s simple to prey on people’s fears. That stuff sells, but it doesn’t stick. It doesn’t last. Most of all, it doesn’t work.’
On Tuesday night, Mr. Ryan said he hoped Mr. Trump would make clear that he didn’t intend to incite violence when he said earlier in the day that “Second Amendment people” would know how to block Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s attempt to undermine gun rights if she were president.
“It sounds just like a joke gone bad,” Mr. Ryan told reporters after his primary victory. “I hope he clears it up very quickly.”
The speaker thanked Wisconsin voters for supporting his brand of conservatism, drawing a contrast with Mr. Trump’s more inflammatory style without saying the nominee’s name.
“They share my desire for political leadership that is inclusive, not divisive,” Mr. Ryan told reporters after his primary win. “It’s simple to prey on people’s fears. That stuff sells, but it doesn’t stick. It doesn’t last. Most of all, it doesn’t work.”
Mr. Ryan’s lukewarm support for Mr. Trump has sparked political backlash from the nominee and his supporters, creating a more competitive primary than Mr. Ryan had faced in the past. Mr. Trump sent a complimentary tweet earlier this month about Mr. Nehlen, whose rhetoric has echoed many of the presidential nominee’s themes.
Some national GOP figures, including 2008 vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin and conservative commentator Ann Coulter, rallied behind Mr. Nehlen, raising money and attention for his campaign in hopes of staging an upset like GOP Rep. Dave Brat’s ousting of former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor in his Virginia primary in 2014.
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Mr. Nehlen held a rally outside Mr. Ryan’s home in Janesville, Wis., to protest that the lawmaker had built a “border fence” around his house but refused to erect a wall along the border with Mexico to block illegal immigrants from entering the country.
“If you got three dogs and three kids, having a fence in your backyard isn’t such a bad idea,” Mr. Ryan said on a Wisconsin radio show last week. “Particularly when it was built 50 years ago by a prior homeowner.”
The primary also highlights the challenge Mr. Ryan faces contending with the GOP’s restive right flank—whether in his district or in Washington. Conservative lawmakers have been pushing to hold a vote in September on whether to impeach the Internal Revenue Service commissioner and are likely to balk at legislation needed in upcoming months to keep the government funded and raise the country’s borrowing limit.
Write to Kristina Peterson at kristina.peterson@wsj.com
