Kentucky Rep. Massie loses primary to Trump-backed challenger

Representative Thomas Massie, a prominent Republican critic of President Donald Trump, lost his primary reelection bid Tuesday to a challenger endorsed by the president, Ed Gallrein.

Gallrein, a former Navy SEAL, secured the GOP nomination for Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District and will advance to the November midterm general election.

The race, the most expensive House primary in history, was widely viewed as a barometer of Trump’s enduring influence over the Republican Party.

Trump repeatedly urged voters to back Gallrein over Massie, whom he called a “major sleazebag” and “the worst Republican congressman in history.”

Massie, first elected in 2012, broke with Trump by voting against the president’s tax and spending legislation last year, citing concerns over the national debt. He also voted to restrict Trump’s military actions against suspected drug vessels in the Caribbean and the ongoing war in Iran.

Massie joined Democrats and a few Republicans in demanding that Trump’s Justice Department release all files related to Jeffrey Epstein.

On Monday, Trump attacked Massie on social media, calling him “an obstructionist and a fool.”

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth campaigned for Gallrein in Kentucky, accusing Massie of “constant obstruction.” Massie responded that Hegseth’s visit indicated weakness in Gallrein’s campaign.

“You don’t send the Secretary of War to Kentucky during a war if you think your candidate is up 10 points. That’s what you do when you realise your whole campaign is imploding,” Massie told CBS News.

Massie noted that he votes with Trump 90% of the time but said the president and his allies demand “100% compliance.”

“It’s only the 10% of the time they’re mad about – when I won’t vote for a war, when I won’t vote for warrantless spying and when I won’t vote to bankrupt the country,” he said.

“But in those instances, I’m doing what I told the people in Kentucky I would do,” Massie added.

In a separate Kentucky race, Representative Andy Barr won the Republican nomination to succeed retiring Senator Mitch McConnell, who has served for over four decades.

Trump endorsed Barr, and his victory was expected after Trump offered an ambassadorship to Barr’s main primary challenger.

Trump has aggressively used his endorsement power in recent Republican primaries, including helping to defeat an incumbent senator who voted to convict him in his 2021 impeachment trial.

In Texas, Trump endorsed state Attorney General Ken Paxton over longtime Republican Senator John Cornyn.

“John Cornyn is a good man, and I worked well with him, but he was not supportive of me when times were tough,” Trump said Tuesday of his decision to back Paxton.