Milton Wolf, the conservative radiologist who boasts of being related to President Barack Obama, lost to to incumbent Sen. Pat Roberts in the Republican primary in Kansas on Tuesday.
The Associated Press called the race shortly after 10 p.m.
“Congratulations to my fellow Kansan Senator Pat Roberts on his victory tonight,” National Republican Senatorial Committee chairman Jerry Moran said. “Senator Roberts has served as a diligent check on Democrats’ push for ever expansive government and is a true conservative voice for our state.”
Roberts victory is another blow to conservatives who have been unable to topple a single incumbent GOP senator this election cycle. The Kansas senator now joins John Cornyn of Texas, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Thad Cochran of Mississippi and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina as survivors of a 2014 primary battle with a tea party rival.
“Taking on the establishment is always an uphill battle,” said Jenny Beth Martin of Tea Party Patriots, “even more so for a first-time candidate. It’s a never-ending battle, though, and something tells me we haven’t seen the last of Dr. Milton Wolf.”
This week is the last chance for conservatives to take out a Republican incumbent senator: in Tennessee, state House Rep. Joe Carr is challenging Sen. Lamar Alexander in Thursday’s vote. Alexander is still overwhelmingly favored to win the contest.
In Kansas, Wolf portrayed Roberts, who has been in the Senate since 1997, of being detached from Kansas. He raised questions about Roberts’ residency after it was revealed the senator doesn’t live in a home of his own in the state anymore. (RELATED: Milton Wolf Requests Pat Roberts Removed From Ballot)
Roberts, meanwhile, attacked Wolf for posting gruesome X-ray photos of gunshot victims on Facebook. (RELATED: GOP senate candidate Milton Wolf posted graphic X-rays of gunshot victims on Facebook in 2010)