A Wisconsin businessman, who isn't yet revealing his identity, plans to mount a campaign against House Speaker Paul Ryan, saying that while he's donated to the one-time vice presidential candidate in the past, he now plans to spend his money on his own race as he feels "betrayed."
"I've had the privilege of attending multiple meetings with this individual, during which he has expressed his sense of betrayal by Speaker Ryan," Wisconsin conservative activist and consultant Eric Odom told
The Washington Times.
"He has a strong desire to see real representation for the people of the district versus a congressman who represents special interests in Washington."
The candidate, said Odom, considers Ryan's actions on trade deals and immigration a "very personal" betrayal and he "intends to run a full-scale candidacy that will shake up the establishment in a profound way."
Ryan, though, has more than $5 million in his campaign war chest and is one of Washington's most powerful Republicans.
But the Wisconsin challenger, a tea party supporter, plans to put a great deal of his personal
fortune into the fight.
Ryan is widely considered a unifying figure in the House, and was drafted into the Speaker's seat, even though he had not sought it.
His camp has not responded to questions about a potential primary challenger, but there are conservatives that could back the businessman's campaign, after Ryan pushed through a $2 trillion spending bill that backed away from fights to defund Planned Parenthood and block plans to bring Syrian refugees into the country.