Huelskamp: I Lost Because I Stood Up to the Washington Elites

Conservative tea party firebrand Rep. Tim Huelskamp says he lost his GOP primary because he stood up to Republican leadership and the "big-money Washington elites" who are "destroying our country."

In a bitter commentary for The Washington Post posted Friday, the Kansas lawmaker — defeated in a landslide Tuesday by political neophyte Roger Marshall — writes he vowed in 2010 he "would not become a creature of Washington and and that I would stand up to my own party when necessary."

"In Washington, it turns out that keeping your promises makes you a lot of enemies — especially in Republican circles," he writes.

Huelskamp argues he was attacked by $1 million worth of opposition ads from super PACs funded by "the billionaires who ran ads that helped Hillary Clinton win Iowa…"

"Even the U.S. Chamber of Commerce joined the assault at the end," he argues, slamming the group for supporting "amnesty for millions illegally in this country," and supporting the Export-Import Bank and the IRS that "benefits the largest corporations at the expense of America's small businesses."

Marshall received endorsements from the Kansas Farm Bureau, Kansas Livestock Association, National Association of Wheat Growers, and U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Supporters of Huelskamp, who famously clashed with GOP leaders over farm and budget legislation — and was a fierce critic of former House Speaker John Boehner — argued that he gave his conservative GOP district an independent voice.

In his commentary, Huelskamp charges he was one of the "few elected officials … willing to cast bold votes" to cut government spending, "secure our border" and "stop the flow of unvetted refugees into the United States" because "they're afraid of being primaried by big-money Washington elites."

"The result is an unsecured border, unrestrained government spending and $19.5 trillion in debt," he writes, adding he hopes "other principled conservatives" will remain "accountable to the people, not the Washington elites destroying our country."

• Huelskamp Loss Shows Tea Party Pols Aren't Immune to 'Insider' Tag
• Freedom Caucus Calls Out Lack of GOP Unity