Tony Wied wins GOP primary for 8th Congressional District

Republican businessman Tony Wied won a three-way GOP primary for Wisconsin’s 8th Congressional District Tuesday, setting up a general election contest against Democrat Kristin Lyerly in November.

Wied defeated state Sen. Andre Jacque and former state Sen. Roger Roth. They were running for a seat previously held by former U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher, who resigned earlier this year.

The Associated Press called the race at 10:35 p.m. According to preliminary results, Wied took about 40 percent of the vote, while Roth received 35 percent and Jacque received 24 percent.

Speaking to reporters in Green Bay after being declared the winner, Wied said he had thanked his opponents for a “spirited debate” throughout the primary process. 

“It’s important now more than ever to unite as a Republican Party, and I am going to do everything in my power to bring the Republican party together,” he said.

The 8th Congressional District has been held by Republicans since 2011. The Cook Political Report rates the 8th Congressional District “solid Republican.” Gallagher never received less than 60 percent of the vote in any general election.

Wied was the only candidate to receive former President Donald Trump’s endorsement, although all three GOP candidates supported Trump’s bid to return to the White House.

The Green Bay-area businessman has framed himself as a political outsider, running for office to stand up to “career politicians.”

While the primary was at times heated, there were early signs that Republicans would coalesce quickly behind Wied. After casting his ballot Tuesday, Roth told reporters he “100 percent” planned to endorse the winner of the 8th District primary, calling primaries “great things.”

“These are opportunities for candidates to make their case to the voters (about) their vision, their ideas for the future,” he said. “But when we’re all said and done, we’re all Republicans, we’ve got to come together. That’s how we win from the top down.”

Wied and Lyerly will face off in November in a race that will give voters a stark contrast. Lyerly, an OB-GYN, is an outspoken abortion rights advocate, while Wied is anti-abortion but frames it as a state issue, not a federal issue.

In a phone interview Tuesday night, Lyerly said Wied’s framing of abortion as a state issue is a “cop-out.” She said Republicans do so because they “don’t know how to talk about” the issue.

“They use this as a stopgap to make people think that they actually care,” she said.

Wied and Lyerly each were on the ballot twice Tuesday, and will be again on Nov. 5. They’re running for both a general and special election. The special election will allow the winner to finish Republican former U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher’s term in Congress after he resigned earlier this year.