Forget Trump: In Ryan's district, voters give him thumbs up

(AP) — Donald Trump may be unwilling to endorse House Speaker Paul Ryan, but voters in his southeast Wisconsin district are eager to embrace their congressman.

Ryan's once sleepy race against little-known and underfunded challenger Paul Nehlen, an executive at a water filtration company, got a jolt when Trump refused to back Ryan.

Trump's smackdown came just days after Ryan defended the Muslim American parents of an Army captain killed in Iraq, pushing back on the presidential candidate's attacks on the couple.

Trump's rebuke of Ryan put him at odds with vice presidential candidate Mike Pence, who told the Fox News Channel on Wednesday that he had a long friendship with Ryan and was pleased to endorse him.

Ryan has won the backing of every local Republican lawmaker, four GOP sheriffs, Wisconsin Right to Life and the National Rifle Association.

Ryan enjoys approval ratings among Republicans in the mid-80s, numbers that Trump has never been close to in Wisconsin.

Ryan has outraised Nehlen 17-to-1 and has been tapping that nearly $15 million to blanket the airwaves with campaign ads that focus on national security and don't even mention his opponent.

"Speaker Ryan's repeated betrayal of Donald Trump is an act of sabotage against our party and an act of sabotage against our Republican electorate who selected Mr. Trump as our nominee," Nehlen said at a hastily called news conference just down the hill from where Ryan lives.