Rep. Ralph Hall (R-TX), the oldest sitting member of the House of Representatives at 91, lost a runoff election on Tuesday to conservative challenger U.S. Attorney John Ratcliffe.
With 98 percent of precincts reporting on Wednesday, Ratcliffe was leading Hall 53 percent to 47 percent.
Hall was a 34-year incumbent prior to losing, according to the Daily Beast. He had been the target of a number of prominent conservative outside groups this cycle who backed Ratcliffe’s candidacy. The Club for Growth’s Chris Chocola was quick to praise Ratcliffe’s win.
“Congratulations to John Ratcliffe on his great victory tonight. In Congress, John will be a fighter for Texas taxpayers and a champion for economic liberty. John Ratcliffe is a constitutional conservative and we can’t wait to see him elected.
Similarly, the Senate Conservatives Fund, which invested $60,000 on supporting Ratcliffe, also lauded his victory.
“We congratulate John Ratcliffe on his victory tonight. He won this race because he never stopped fighting for conservative principles,” SCF Executive Director Matt Hoskins said in a statement. “John Ratcliffe will go to Washington and fight to stop wasteful spending, balance the budget, and repeal Obamacare.”
Someone forgot to scream “OBAMACARE!!!” enough.
Haven’t decided whether to rejoice about this or not. Been waiting for someone to get rid of Ralph Hall for over a decade now, but he is being replaced by someone even worse. Only consolation is the new guy will enter with now seniority so will have no actual power, unlike Hall, who has devastated the Science committee for years.
Ratcliffe won’t actually deliver on what his money men say he will or even try to, but it sounds good as a “send money” pitch. Emotions aside, people must eventually retire, but it’s too bad Hall didn’t know what time it was.
For a bunch of guys that seem to hate that “communist” in the white house, the Teabag Party sure loves to engage in Permanent Revolution.
None of their sacred cows is ever conservative enough, because they’re TAINNNNNNNNNNTEDDDDD by their exposure to That Moral Sewer And Corrupting Cesspool in D.C.
And thus, they always have another wackadoodle, waiting in the wings.
It’s Texas. Congressman Ratshit will soon be a scary reality.