Oldest Lawmaker Kicked Out

Photo Credit: Getty Images Rep. Ralph Hall (R-Texas), the oldest member in House history, has lost his primary to a conservative challenger.

The Associated Press has called the race for former U.S. Attorney John Ratcliffe (R), who led Hall by 52 percent to 48 percent with 68 percent of precincts reporting.

Hall is the first incumbent to lose a reelection campaign this year. Originally elected as a Democrat in 1980, he’d switched to the GOP in 2004 and hadn’t faced a serious challenge since.

Hall, 91, was caught off guard by Ratcliffe, who jumped into the race right before the filing deadline and loaned himself more than $600,000 for the race. The longtime congressman took a while to kick his campaign into gear, raising and spending very little for the first round of voting in March, when Ratcliffe and other challengers held him to 45 percent of the vote.

Ratcliffe ran a disciplined campaign focused on generational change. He also sought to position himself to Hall’s right — and received a boost on that front as the runoff began, when he received endorsements from the conservative Club for Growth, Madison Project and Senate Conservatives Fund.

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