The Speaker of the House's political career has been full of ups and downs, and now politically-minded folks want to know: Did Paul Ryan win his Congress seat in the 2016 general election? On Tuesday, Nov. 8, The Associated Press reported that House Speaker Paul Ryan was re-elected to his seat in Congress at 9:36 p.m. EST.
Ryan has been the U.S. Representative of Wisconsin's 1st congressional district since 1999, but he first rose to national prominence in 2012, when he became former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney's vice presidential running mate. At the time, political analyst Nate Silver called Ryan "the most conservative Republican member of Congress to be picked for the vice-presidential slot since at least 1900."
After President Obama's re-election, Ryan returned to his seat in Congress, and won his own re-election in 2014. The next year, Ryan succeeded John Boehner as Speaker of the House, following the Ohio Congressman's resignation. He was floated throughout the 2016 election cycle as a possible GOP nominee to replace Donald Trump, whom Ryan has supported, but he turned down repeated suggestions to that effect, and told the RNC: "I do not want, nor will I accept, the Republican nomination."
Running for the Republican nomination in his Congressional district in 2016, the Trump-endorsed Ryan beat out Paul Nehlen, a Trump-inspired challenger, by a landslide. In the general election, he faced off against three contenders: Democrat Ryan Solen, Libertarian Jason Lebeck, and Trump Conservative Spencer Zimmerman. Ryan won 70 percent of the vote on Tuesday night.
