Paul Nehlen
Paul Nehlen (Republican Party) ran for election to the U.S. House to represent Wisconsin's 1st Congressional District. He lost in the Republican primary on August 14, 2018.
Nehlen was a 2016 Republican candidate for the same office.[1] Nehlen was defeated by incumbent Paul Ryan in the Republican primary on August 9, 2016.[2]
Biography
Nehlen's professional experience includes working as an executive, manager, and shop floor worker in manufacturing. He has been associated with Operation Homefront, March of Dimes, Walk America, and S.A.F.E. Place women's shelter.[3]
Elections
2018
General election
General election for U.S. House Wisconsin District 1
Bryan Steil defeated Randy Bryce and Ken Yorgan in the general election for U.S. House Wisconsin District 1 on November 6, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Bryan Steil (R) | 54.6 | 177,492 | |
| Randy Bryce (D) | 42.3 | 137,508 | ||
| Ken Yorgan (Independent) | 3.1 | 10,006 | ||
| Other/Write-in votes | 0.0 | 7 | ||
| Total votes: 325,013 | ||||
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Democratic primary election
Democratic primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 1
Randy Bryce defeated Catherine Myers in the Democratic primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 1 on August 14, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Randy Bryce | 59.6 | 36,406 | |
| Catherine Myers | 40.4 | 24,699 | ||
| Total votes: 61,105 | ||||
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Republican primary election
Republican primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 1
The following candidates ran in the Republican primary for U.S. House Wisconsin District 1 on August 14, 2018.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | Bryan Steil | 51.6 | 30,885 | |
| Nick Polce | 14.9 | 8,948 | ||
| Paul Nehlen | 11.1 | 6,638 | ||
| Kevin Steen | 10.5 | 6,262 | ||
| Jeremy Ryan | 10.4 | 6,226 | ||
| Bradley Thomas Boivin | 1.5 | 924 | ||
| Total votes: 59,883 | ||||
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Withdrawn or disqualified candidates
- Jeff Wamboldt (R)
Campaign advertisements
2016
Heading into the election, Ballotpedia rated this race as safely Republican. Incumbent Paul Ryan (R) defeated Ryan Solen (D), Jason Lebeck (L) and Spencer Zimmerman (Trump Conservative) in the general election on November 8, 2016. Ryan defeated Paul Nehlen in the Republican primary, while Solen defeated Tom Breu to win the Democratic nomination. The primary elections took place on August 9, 2016.[4][2]
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican |  Paul Ryan Incumbent |
65% | 230,072 | |
| Democratic | Ryan Solen | 30.2% | 107,003 | |
| Trump Conservative | Spencer Zimmerman | 2.7% | 9,429 | |
| Libertarian | Jason Lebeck | 2.1% | 7,486 | |
| Total Votes | 353,990 | |||
| Source: Wisconsin Elections Commission | ||||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Paul Ryan Incumbent |
84.1% | 57,364 | ||
| Paul Nehlen | 15.9% | 10,864 | ||
| Total Votes | 68,228 | |||
| Source: Wisconsin Elections and Ethics Commission |
||||
| Candidate | Vote % | Votes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Ryan Solen |
59.1% | 14,639 | ||
| Tom Breu | 40.9% | 10,142 | ||
| Total Votes | 24,781 | |||
| Source: Wisconsin Elections and Ethics Commission |
||||
Campaign themes
2018
Campaign website
Nehlen's campaign website included the following themes:
2016
The following issues were listed on Nehlen's campaign website. For a full list of campaign themes, click here.
| “ |
|
” |
| —Paul Nehlen's campaign website, http://www.paulnehlen.com/nehlen-issues/ | ||
Noteworthy events
Nehlen banned from Twitter, Republican Party returns Nehlen's membership dues
Nehlen was banned from Twitter on February 11, 2018, after he posted a photo that replaced Meghan Markle, then-fiancee of Britain's Prince Harry, with a photo of a reconstruction of a dark-skinned prehistoric man nicknamed Cheddar Man. It was captioned, "Honey does this tie make my face look pale?"[6] Markle's mother is black and her father is white.[7]
Nehlen defended his tweet, stating in a subtweet, "Publishing an article *disappearing whites* or *dispossessing whites* of their homelands is wrong; made worse when claiming 'science' to 'prove' whites never existed. I made a joke of it. It's not a laughing matter, so I chose to laugh about it."[8] He also published a statement regarding his Twitter ban, that read in part,
| “ | These are unprecedented, brazen acts of censorship by a corporate monopoly that controls a primary channel of public communication. It has severely compromised the integrity of our election processes, and Congress needs to hold public hearings and conduct a full investigation into these matters without delay. This communist-style speech control absolutely cannot be tolerated in an open and democratic society.[9][5] | ” |
| —Paul Nehlen, 2018 | ||
Newsweek reported that a Twitter spokesperson confirmed the account suspension, saying "We have permanently suspended this account for repeated violations of our terms of service."[10] Nehlen previously had his account suspended for a week in January 2018 when he tweeted the names and contact information of his critics along with photos of media executives from the New York Times, CNN, Fox News, and others with the Star of David next to the faces of those Nehlen claimed were Jewish or had a Jewish spouse. He captioned the tweets, "Does anything stick out to you?"[11][12]
On February 13, 2018, the Wisconsin Republican Party returned or donated the membership dues Nehlen had paid to the Republican county parties in Kenosha, Walworth, and Racine in 2016 and 2017. Explaining the Wisconsin Republican Party's decision to repay the dues, spokesperson Alec Zimmerman stated, "Paul Nehlen is not a member of the Republican Party of Wisconsin. Nehlen and his ideas have no place in the Republican Party."[13]
In response, Nehlen wrote in an email to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "The Republican Party of Wisconsin is not Scott Walker and Robin Vos’ personal cartel, and I will not be lectured to on conservative values by self-righteous prigs who have managed to conserve nothing."[14]
See also
- United States House of Representatives
- Wisconsin's 1st Congressional District election, 2018
- Wisconsin's 1st Congressional District election, 2016
- Wisconsin's 1st Congressional District
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ The Washington Times, "Paul Ryan faces primary challenge from wealthy businessman ‘betrayed’ by House speaker," March 28, 2016
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Politico, "Wisconsin House Primaries Results," August 9, 2016
- ↑ Nehlen for Congress, "Meet Paul Nehlen," accessed Februrary 20, 2018
- ↑ Wisconsin Government Accountability Board, "Candidate Tracking by Office," accessed June 2, 2016
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ NPR News, "Twitter Bans GOP Contender For Racist Tweet Targeting Meghan Markle," February 13, 2018
- ↑ Elle Magazine, "Meghan Markle: I'm More Than An 'Other'," December 22, 2016
- ↑ Facebook, "Paul Nehlen," accessed February 16, 2018
- ↑ Elect Nehlen, "Statement of Paul Nehlen on Unlawful Election Interference by Twitter, the Anti-Defamation League, and Foreign Persons and Entities," February 12, 2018
- ↑ Newsweek', "Alt-right Gop Candidate Paul Nehlen Suspended From Twitter After Racist Meghan Markle Posting," February 12, 2018
- ↑ Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Paul Ryan challenger posts phone numbers of critics after claiming '74 are Jews'," January 31, 2018
- ↑ Forward, "‘Alt-Right’ Candidate Paul Nehlen Goes On Twitter Rant About ‘Jewish Media’," January 23, 2018
- ↑ Fox 6 Now, "'No place in the Republican Party:' Wisconsin GOP distances itself from Paul Ryan foe Paul Nehlen after Twitter posts," February 13, 2018
- ↑ Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "GOP returns dues from Paul Ryan challenger as top leaders denounce Paul Nehlen as racist," February 13, 2018
