Tea Partier Unseats Oldest Congressman

The oldest member the House of Representatives has ever seen has lost his job to a Tea Party-backed candidate. Rep. Ralph Hall lost his Texas primary yesterday to John Ratcliffe, a former US attorney and Mitt Romney aide. Ratcliffe had won 52% of the vote to Hall's 48% with 66% of precincts reporting. After Hall and the retiring Rep. John Dingell leave their jobs next year, there will be no World War II veterans serving in Congress, the Washington Post notes.

"I just got whipped and got beat," Hall, 91, said to supporters. Yesterday's vote was a runoff after no candidate won a majority in March. Hall had aimed to stay for one more term, hoping to help the GOP win the presidency in 2016. His campaign focused on direct mail and meeting with voters in towns, while Ratcliffe focused on voter analytics, the AP reports. Ratcliffe, meanwhile, should have no trouble winning the general election in Texas' 4th Congressional District, the Post notes. (More Ralph Hall stories.)