Two big names in Wisconsin politics easily beat their rivals in yesterday’s primary election.
U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan celebrated his victory over Republican opponent Paul Nehlen in the same way he ran his campaign for the Congressional seat: low-key. No balloons, no music, no crowd of supporters: Ryan just spoke to a couple of rows of reporters in a Janesville meeting hall. Matt Streb, a political science professor at Northern Illinois University, says Ryan "wasn't going to sit there and make a big deal out of this victory because I think that in Paul Ryan's mind it was expected. It wasn't a big deal."
Ryan, and his million dollar campaign fund, battle Democrat Ryan Solen in November.
Meanwhile, former US Senator Russ Feingold defeated his Senate primary opponent by an even larger margin. Streb says this fall’s rematch between Feingold and Republican Gary Johnson is one of the hottest Senate races in the country. Streb says, "Russ Feingold will tell you that he lost in 2010 to Republican Ron Johnson because it was a Republican tidal wave, and it really wasn't so much Russ Feingold people were voting against, it was the Democratic party in general."
