GOP Sen. Pat Roberts defeats Tea Party challenger Milton Wolf in Kansas primary

Republican Sen. Pat Roberts has just survived a Tea Party primary challenge back in Kansas, with a victory over medical doctor Milton Wolf.
With 71 percent of precincts reporting, Roberts has 48 percent of the vote against Wolf's 41 percent; The Associated Press has projected Roberts as the winner.
In this contest, both candidates offered voters quite a bit to dislike about them. For Roberts, who has been in either the Senate or the House for a total of 34 years, it was his lack of an actual home in Kansas — a problem he exacerbated with a recent gaffe: "Every time I get an opponent — I mean, every time I get a chance, I'm home."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Milton Wolf (who is also a somewhat distant cousin of President Obama, whom he frequently denounces) had his own scandal, when it was revealed this past February that he had previously posted X-rays of severely injured patients on his Facebook account, along with jokes about gruesome contents of the pictures. Wolf would go to explain that this sort of thing is a coping method for medical professionals who deal with such cases on a regular basis — and even then, his explanations could still sound rather impolitic.
Roberts "accuses me of releasing private patient information, but quite frankly he's lying," Wolf told ABC News, in a recent quote published earlier Tuesday. "We're talking about anonymous X-rays. If there was an X-ray of you, you would not be able to recognize that it's you, and there's a good chance you probably wouldn't know what body part it is."
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Confessions of a Brain Surgeon: an 'exceptional' documentary
The Week Recommends Retired neurosurgeon Henry Marsh reflects on his pioneering work with exquisitely 'raw honesty'
-
A new subtype of diabetes was found and it may require different treatment
Under the radar It is prevalent in Black Africans and Americans
-
Sudoku medium: August 20, 2025
The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, Stallone
Speed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's view
Speed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talk
Speed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'
Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposes
speed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wife
speed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play
-
Giant schnauzer wins top prize at Westminster show
Speed Read Monty won best in show at the 149th Westminster Kennel Club dog show
-
Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar take top Grammys
Speed Read Beyoncé took home album of the year for 'Cowboy Carter' and Kendrick Lamar's diss track 'Not Like Us' won five awards