Ryan a target in 2016 primary for backing colossal spending bill

[WestVirginiaRebel]

Washington Times:

Conservative activists are targeting House Speaker Paul D. Ryan for a primary challenge in 2016 as retribution for the massive spending bill the Wisconsin Republican ushered through Congress at the end of the recent session.

 

The effort is spearheaded by Wisconsin tea party groups and pro-life activists, who feel betrayed by Mr. Ryan’s nearly $2 trillion package that avoided a government shutdown by surrendering on conservatives’ top priorities, including giving up the fights to defund Planned Parenthood and to block President Obama’s plan to bring at least 10,000 Syrian refugees to America.

 

The hunt is on to find a suitable conservative candidate that can beat Mr. Ryan, who received 94 percent of the vote in the 2014 primary in his district, which sits against the Illinois border in the southeastern part of the state.

 

“There are people who are seriously looking for that,” said James Murphy, founder of Green Bay Tea Party. “There is a sympathetic ear to having someone beat him.”

 

The Ryan campaign team in Wisconsin has shrugged off the threats, treating it as merely talk in the absence of a viable candidate to mount a challenge in the district.

 

However, there is precedent for a tea party challenger to topple a member of the House Republican leadership. Then-Majority Leader Eric Cantor lost his seat in Richmond, Va., suburb in a 2014 primary upset to tea party-backed Dave Brat.

 

However, Mr. Ryan’s predecessor as speaker, John A. Boehner, easily defeated a tea party-backed primary challenger the same year. At the time, Mr. Boehner, Ohio Republican, faced widespread opposition from conservatives and a revolt in the House GOP conference, which ultimately prompted him to resign in October.

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Paul Ryan dumps on America; will voters dump him?