GOP Rep. Tim Huelskamp lost his House primary Tuesday night to challenger Roger Marshall. | Getty Huelskamp loses GOP primary after ideological battle

GOP Rep. Tim Huelskamp, a three-term incumbent and House Freedom Caucus member from Kansas, lost his House primary Tuesday night to challenger Roger Marshall, a physician backed by agricultural interests and several big-spending outside groups.

Marshall had 57 percent of the vote to Huelskamp’s 43 percent when The Associated Press called the race with 72 percent of precincts reporting.


Huelskamp’s primary in the “Big First” district, a safely Republican seat, became a proxy war between hard-line conservatives and more traditional GOP groups and donors.

And in a twist on the usual script in recent anti-incumbent House GOP primaries, Marshall campaigned as a more pragmatic voice, promising voters he would reclaim the district’s longtime seat on the House Agriculture Committee. Huelskamp was removed from the committee in 2012 after angering House GOP leadership.

“People regularly overuse the word 'historic' — but this actually is,” said Brian Baker, president of ESAFund, a super PAC which spent over $1 million against Huelskamp and for Marshall. “Incumbents very rarely lose, which tells us that voters are demanding that Republicans in Congress work together to advance a fiscally conservative agenda to actually end out-of-control spending — not just grandstand.”

Huelskamp is the fourth member of Congress to lose a primary this year, and despite widespread dissatisfaction with the federal government, each loss stemmed from local events. Democratic Rep. Chaka Fattah was under indictment when he lost his primary in Philadelphia, while GOP Reps. Renee Ellmers (N.C.) and Randy Forbes (Va.) were shifted into new territory because of court-ordered redistricting in their states.

In Huelskamp’s primary, outside groups poured more than $2.5 million into the massive, 63-county stretch of Kansas farmland. Much of the advertising litigated Huelskamp’s commitment to supporting local agriculture in Congress.

“That much money coming in from outside, that’s hard,” said Jeff Glendening, who runs the Kansas chapter of Americans for Prosperity, the national conservative group that backed Huelskamp. “It flooded the district. It was impossible to avoid those messages.”

Huelskamp backers say he was targeted for doing “everything he said he would do” in Congress, according to AFP spokesman Levi Russell — including votes against the Farm Bill and the Export-Import Bank.

The Club for Growth also lined up behind Huelskamp, running TV ads that cast Marshall as “a liberal” who would be out of step with the conservative district. AFP sent out mailers that highlight Huelskamp’s conservative resume.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and ESAFund, a super PAC founded by the Ricketts family, boosted Marshall, a first-time candidate, along with a handful of other groups. ESAFund aired an ad that called Huelskamp “Washing-Tim,” saying it was “time” for him to go. The Chamber tagged the incumbent as “ineffective” in its ads and flew top officials to Manhattan, Kan., Monday for an event with Marshall.

“A decisive and overwhelming win for conservatives who want to get big things done,” said Rob Engstrom, national political director at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “Now is the time. We congratulate our friend Dr. Roger Marshall.”

Strong Leadership for America, another outside group has not yet revealed its donors, put in $500,000 on targeted mailers and digital persuasion for its get-out-the-vote effort.

Marshall backers hoped their victory in Kansas would send a message to frequent “no” voters among House Republicans: that obstructionism has its limits.

“Every member should remember this the next time they see a Club for Growth or Heritage Action vote alert,” said a national Republican strategist. “Never put their interests before your district or the country, or there will be a price to pay.”