Ryan Challenger Crushed, But Left Impact

There will be no repeat of the political earthquake that shook then-Majority Leader Eric Cantor out of office and halted momentum for Senate-led immigration reform.

Businessman Paul Nehlen raised an impressive sum of money and won support from conservative activists across the country in his bid to unseat House Speaker Paul Ryan in his southeastern Wisconsin House district. But Nehlen was no match Tuesday for Ryan, who won 84.1 percent of the vote.

He said there would be not vote on the TPP unless it is renegotiated, adding that he has “problems with significant provisions of it.”

Nehlen, perhaps, can claim credit for slowing down the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade pact involving a dozen nations and 40 percent of the world’s economy. Ryan voted to give President Obama a free hand in negotiating the deal and once enthusiastically promoted the benefits of the trading bloc.

“It’s pretty amazing we were able to stop this TPP deal,” Nehlen told LifeZette. “This is the same deal he whipped votes on. The deal has never changed … What we achieved is nothing short of a miracle.”

Nehlen hammered Ryan on the issue, accusing the nine-term congressman of betraying his constituents. The challenger argued the trade deal would cost American jobs and surrender U.S.sovereignty.

In response, Ryan tacked every so slightly toward the populism espoused by Nehlen and GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, telling reporters in Wisconsin this week that he opposed deal in its current form. He said there would be not vote on the TPP unless it is renegotiated, adding that he has “problems with significant provisions of it.”

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That somewhat parallels the fate of immigration reform after Cantor lost his primary challenge to little-known college professor Dave Brat. Prior to that, the Senate-passed immigration reform that would have offered a path to citizenship to millions of illegal immigrants appeared headed for a vote in the House. After Cantor’s loss, House Speaker John Boehner killed the bill.

It is not a perfect analogy. Unlike immigration reform, the TPP is far from dead and remains a priority for Obama in the waning days of his final term. And Ryan didn’t exactly renounce multinational trade accords.

“We do need trade agreements,” he said in Wisconsin. “I know a lot of people just say, ‘Get rid of trade agreements; don’t do trade agreements; they’re terrible.’ That’s a problem for us. They’re just wrong. I just said it: If 96 percent of the world’s consumers live in other countries, and we have to make things to sell them overseas to keep us fully employed, you’ve got to open up markets to our products.”

Still, skeptics of these large, multinational trade bargains could mark it as progress that Ryan is now on record as demanding a renegotiation of the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Ryan also fought back against allegations that he is soft on illegal immigration. He told Charlie Sykes, an influential conservative radio talk show host in Wisconsin, that a spending bill passed by Congress last year added more than 1,000 border patrol agents.

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“I was a big supporter of a fence to stop illegal immigration … I’m not for the open border,” he said.

On Tuesday, Ryan tweeted: “Securing our borders is the first step to a safer, stronger United States. Get the facts on my record.”

Ryan’s professed commitment to secure borders played out against the backdrop of a protest outside his home, featuring women who had lost children to murders committed by illegal immigrants.

The race to carry the Republican banner in the fall election in Wisconsin’s 1st District was bitter. Nehlen depicted Ryan as a sellout and complained that state and local Republican officials were improperly trying to freeze him out. He said he was unable even to put his signs and campaign materials in local Republican offices.

Trump had kind words for Nehlen and suggested he might not support the speaker. But he reversed course on Friday, disappointing grassroots activists by formally endorsing Ryan — and Establishment Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Kelly Ayotte (R-N.H.) in their re-election bids.

As for Nehlen, he has no plans to disappear.

“My future plans are to go to war with the Establishment,” he said.