The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, infamous for waging an electoral war against Conservatives by defending Republican Establishment figures like Sen. Thad Cochran against TEA Party insurgents, orchestrated a Conservative bloodbath in Kansas. The GOP Establishment knocked off three-term incumbent and House Freedom Caucus member Rep. Tim Huelskamp. Huelskamp. lost Tuesday’s primary to challenger Roger Marshall.

That was just the marquee race. The Establishment also defeated Kansas State Senate Majority Leader Terry Bruce and at least 10 other Conservative Kansas Legislators:

Five other conservative senators lost in races that spanned the state. So did five conservative House members. According to the Associated Press, all of them were from affluent Kansas City-area suburbs in Johnson County:

Besides Bruce, the conservative senators who were unseated were Tom Arpke, of Salina; Forrest Knox, of Altoona; Jeff Melcher, of Leawood; Larry Powell, of Garden City; and Greg Smith, of Overland Park. All are Brownback allies.

[. . .]

The House conservatives who lost Republican primaries were Rob Bruchman, of Leawood; Brett Hildabrand, of Shawnee; Jerry Lunn, of Overland Park; Charles Macheers, of Shawnee; and Craig McPherson, of Overland Park.

It might be even worse, three other Conservative Republicans are trailing, but their races were too close to call — Will Carpenter, of El Dorado; Kasha Kelley, of Arkansas City; and Connie O’Brien, of Tonganoxie.

The AP pitches this as a backlash against the policies of Republican Gov. Sam Brownback and his allies. Don’t fall for that line. It is the result of a massive effort by the GOP Establishment to squash the TEA Party insurgency and bring the people to heel. This effort of the Establishment to crush ongoing insurgency against the Establishment is what enabled Donald Trump’s hostile takeover nomination.