Paul Ryan, Debbie Wasserman Schultz primaries to test voters" mood

Donald Trump not endorsing Paul Ryan

House Speaker Paul Ryan and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz are about to test voters" anti-establishment mood, firsthand.

In an election year that"s seen both parties" supporters seethe against Washington, 15 states from Florida to Arizona still have House primaries. That includes challenges against Ryan, R-Wis., and Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., who abruptly resigned last week as chair of the Democratic National Committee.

Both seem likely to prevail, but surprises can happen in low-turnout summer primaries.

Here"s a look at noteworthy contests, a prelude to a November election in which Democrats will make a long-shot bid to capture House control:

Elections this year

Before this week, 31 states had held 2016 House primaries. Three incumbents lost, but none of their races supported the argument that voters want to throw the incumbents out of the House, anyway.

Rep. Renee Ellmers fell to fellow North Carolina GOP Rep. George Holding, and Virginia Republican Rep. Randy Forbes also lost, victims of court-ordered, redrawn district lines. Rep. Chaka Fattah, D-Pa., was defeated in April after an indictment on federal corruption charges. He was later convicted and quit Congress.

This week

Four states held House primaries Tuesday.

In the most striking, Rep. Tim Huelskamp, R-Kan., a tea partyer and persistent annoyance to GOP leaders, lost his attempt for a fourth term.

Huelskamp"s contest against Roger Marshall, an obstetrician, was unusual because GOP primary challengers usually accuse incumbents of being insufficiently conservative. Marshall argued that Huelskamp"s rebelliousness got him kicked off the House Agriculture Committee, which is vital for western Kansas.

Their contest became a proxy battle between GOP conservatives and pragmatists. The anti-tax Club for Growth spent $400,000 to help Huelskamp and members of the conservative House Freedom Caucus campaigned for him. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Ending Spending Action Fund, which wants to curb federal expenditures, spent big dollars against him.

Ryan"s race

Political novice Paul Nehlen wants to end Ryan"s House career after nine terms, and he"s getting help from Donald Trump. An unlikely defeat in the Aug. 9 primary would probably spell political doom for the GOP"s 2012 vice presidential candidate and potential future presidential contender.

A tattooed, motorcycle-riding businessman, Nehlen labeled the speaker "Lyin" Ryan" on Twitter. He"s attacked Ryan for favoring a Pacific trade deal and accuses him of being lax on immigration and beholden to the establishment.

Nehlen got a boost from Trump when the GOP presidential candidate said in a Tuesday interview with The Washington Post that he is "not quite there yet" in endorsing Ryan. That could be payback for Ryan saying in May that he was "just not ready" to back Trump. Ryan subsequently endorsed Trump but has criticized him frequently, and their relationship is cool.

Trump praised Nehlen this week for defending his criticism of the Muslim parents of an American soldier slain in Iraq.

Ryan campaign spokesman Zack Roday expressed confidence in a primary victory and said, "Neither Speaker Ryan nor anyone on his team has ever asked for Donald Trump"s endorsement."

Ryan has raised 12 times the $489,000 Nehlen has reported collecting. Not taking chances, Ryan is airing his third TV ad, with people waving flags and praying as Ryan tells the camera, "I am committed to securing our borders."

Wasserman Schultz"s travails

Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders complained that Wasserman Schultz"s DNC, which historically has remained neutral in presidential primary season, backed his victorious Democratic presidential rival, Hillary Clinton. Wasserman Schultz abandoned her party post as last week"s Democratic convention began after leaked emails revealed party staffers doing just what Sanders suspected.

That"s turned Wasserman Schultz"s focus to her Aug. 30 primary, where she"s opposed by upstart law professor Tim Canova. He"s backed by Sanders and has mimicked Sanders" populist style by raising huge sums from small individual contributions. That"s let Canova stay surprisingly competitive financially, raising $2.3 million compared to Wasserman Schultz"s $3.1 million.

Yet the Miami-area district favored Clinton over Sanders by 2-1 in March"s presidential primary. And Wasserman Schultz, seeking a seventh House term, gets high marks for paying attention back home.

Florida frenzy

About half of Florida"s 27 districts feature competitive primaries, including seven where incumbents are stepping down or running for the Senate:

Republican Rep. Jeff Miller is leaving a Panhandle seat so conservative that one leading competitor, State Sen. Greg Evers, raffled off an AR-15 rifle among people who "liked" his Facebook page. Another, State Rep. Matt Gaetz, backed a local sheriff who called the Black Lives Matter group "a terrorist organization."

Democratic Rep. Corrine Brown, indicted on federal fraud charges, faces strong competition in north Florida.

GOP Rep. Dan Webster, who unsuccessfully challenged Rep. John Boehner for the House speakership in 2015, is seeking a different open seat after his district became too Democratic.

The rest

Liz Cheney, daughter of former Vice President d**k Cheney, is a favorite GOP contender for Wyoming"s open, lone House seat Aug. 16.

An Aug. 30 fight among Republicans for the northern Arizona seat of Democratic Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, who"s challenging GOP Sen. John McCain.

A Sept. 13 challenge to Rep. Frank Guinta, R-N.H., perhaps the most endangered House incumbent, whom the Federal Election Commission said accepted illegal 2010 campaign contributions from his parents.

Associated Press

Source: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-primary-elections-paul-ryan-debbie-wasserman-schultz-20160803-story.html

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Paul Ryan preaches unity to skeptical NC delegation

Paul Ryan: GOP Is The Party Of "Ideas"

By Cullen Browder

Cleveland Party unity remains a big issue as the Republican National Convention nears the halfway point in Cleveland, and U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan tried to emphasize that Tuesday morning in a talk with North Carolina"s convention delegation.

"How many of you had in your mind, at the beginning of this campaign, perhaps another candidate?" Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, asked the crowd.

When a number of hands shot up showing a large contingent wasn"t initially supportive of Donald Trump, Ryan, who himself was slow to embrace the presumptive presidential nominee, said simply, "Fine."

Then, he tried a sports analogy that quickly fell flat.

"OK, how many of you are for N.C. State primarily? How many support North Carolina?" he asked. "One of our teams from our state goes to the championship, we root for them, right?"

When that suggestion was greeted with a resounding "no," Ryan winced. "Come on, work with me here. Good grief," he said.

Mary Forrester, a Ted Cruz delegate from Gaston County, said she would support Trump, as will delegate Joyce Cotten of Pittsboro.

"We have differences of opinion. We fight for those differences," Forrester said of the division within the GOP that was displayed Monday during a rules fight on the convention floor.

"I think Donald Trump is the answer," Cotten said. "If people have reservations, I think he"s going to be a good leader. He"s a businessman, and at this time, in my mind, that"s what we need."

"We are to the point where this is a binary choice," Ryan told the North Carolina delegation. "If you"re not voting for the Republican, then you are helping the Democrat."

Larry Schug, a Cruz delegate from Zebulon, said he doesn"t buy that argument.

"I"m not voting for Hillary Clinton," Schug said.

He said he just doesn"t believe Trump is a conservative, so he"s not ready to jump on the bandwagon.

"If the Republican Party, the establishment of the Republican Party, wants to force their ways down our throat, I can"t stand for it," Schug said.

"We usually do the right thing after we"ve tried everything else," Forrester said of the GOP. "So, I feel like that we will come together."

Source: http://www.wral.com/paul-ryan-preaches-unity-to-skeptical-nc-delegation/15862272/

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Paul Ryan says he"ll vote for Trump

A united GOP front? Paul Ryan says he will vote for Trump

House Speaker Paul D. Ryan, R-Wis., ended a monthlong holdout of formally backing his partys presumptive presidential nominee: Donald Trump.

On Thursday, he penned a guest column for his hometown newspaper in which he trumpeted the controversial real-estate mogul as someone who could support the speakers conservative agenda.

Its a question of how to move ahead on the ideas that I and my House colleagues have invested so much in through the years. Its not just a choice of two people, but of two visions for America, Ryan wrote, citing the bold policy agenda that he will begin rolling out next week and contrasting that with Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton. Donald Trump can help us make it a reality.

Ryan, who four weeks ago declared he was not there yet and questioned whether Trump was even conservative, became the last senior Republican congressional leader to back the controversial businessmans candidacy. While the speaker did not use the word endorse, his column left no doubt where he stood after speaking at great length with Trump since he initially declared his hesitation with the candidacy.

Through these conversations, I feel confident he would help us turn the ideas in this agenda into laws to help improve peoples lives. Thats why Ill be voting for him this fall, Ryan wrote.

Initially, the speaker, who likes to call himself a policy guy and a movement conservative, did not agree with Trumps positions on key policy planks of mainstream Republicans of the past 40 years, including a free trade agenda and the effort to rein in federal spending on entitlements. Those issues were the hallmark of Ryans early congressional career and Trump stands squarely against them.

Additionally, Trumps proposals to ban all Muslim travel into the United States and his campaigns tenor in terms of comments regarding minorities, women and the disabled gave Ryan pause.

Those concerns appear to remain, and Ryan vowed to speak out against the presidential candidate if he crosses lines again.

Its no secret that he and I have our differences. I wont pretend otherwise. And when I feel the need to, Ill continue to speak my mind. But the reality is, on the issues that make up our agenda, we have more common ground than disagreement, he wrote.

Source: http://www.pressherald.com/2016/06/02/paul-ryan-says-h**l-vote-for-trump/

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