First GOP incumbent loses seat in 2016 primary

Rep. Renee Ellmers was ousted in a GOP primary on Tuesday

(Image credit: Alex Wong/Getty Images)

last updated 8 June 2016

On Tuesday, Rep. Renee Ellmers (R-N.C.) became the first Republican ousted in a primary this election, losing to former Rep. George Holding (R-N.C.) in a fight prompted by redrawn congressional districts. Ellmers was elected in the Tea Party wave of 2010, backed by the conservative group Americans for Prosperity, but AFP and the Club for Growth spent millions to defeat her this year. With almost all the votes counted in Tuesday's primary, Holding had 53 percent of the vote in a three-way race, and Ellmers was just 200 votes ahead of the third candidate, Greg Brannon.

Ellmers did have one prominent endorser, though: Donald Trump. Trump publicly backed Ellmers on Saturday, his first congressional primary endorsement. She probably would have lost anyway, but "Trump is now 0 for 1 for congressional endorsements," notes Amber Phillips at The Washington Post. "For a candidate who has often shown he lacks certain political savviness," she adds, "lending his name to a losing candidate was an unforced error, to say the least."

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.