Trump-endorsed Gallrein wins heated Northern Kentucky Republican primary against incumbent Massie
U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with Republican congressional candidate Ed Gallrein as they speak on stage at Verst Logistics in Hebron in Northern Kentucky Wednesday. Trump endorsed Gallrein against Republican incumbent Thomas Massie last year. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
President Donald Trump’s Election Day wish came true — U.S. Rep. Thomas Massie has been ousted from Congress.
Ed Gallrein, the Shelby County Republican and former Navy SEAL Trump recruited last year to take on the seven-term congressman, won the GOP primary in Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District Tuesday night.
Gallrein, 68, will face a Democratic opponent in November, but the seat is largely seen as a safe election for Republicans amid contentious midterms this year.
The Associated Press called the race for Gallrein at 7:54 p.m. Tuesday evening.
Massie had gained Trump’s ire for a number of issues — like leading the charge to release the federal investigation files on convicted sex offender and financier Jeffery Epstein — an idea that Trump campaigned on but backed off of after winning a second term. Trump eventually directed Republicans in Congress to vote for the measure in November after mounting public pressure.
Another sticking point for Trump was Massie’s opposition to the GOP megabill, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, last summer. Massie said at the time the legislation would “significantly increase U.S. budget deficits in the near term, negatively impacting all Americans through sustained inflation and high interest rates.”
On the campaign trail, Gallrein repeatedly said he would support the president’s agenda in Congress. In an interview with the Kentucky Lantern ahead of the primary, Gallrein said his first step if elected would be to “go up there and build relationships, because (Massie’s) burned every bridge to our district, burned the bridge factory down, ran everybody off that would build a bridge except for the Democrats who hate us.”
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth came to Hebron to stump for Gallrein less than 24 hours before polls opened. Trump also shored up support for Gallrein in a Monday night call to voters where he touted his other Kentucky primary endorsements, U.S. Rep. Andy Barr for U.S. Senate and former state Sen. Ralph Alvarado for the 6th Congressional District. Trump also lashed out at Massie.
“He’s always been there when we needed him, he was always just absolutely stand-up for Kentucky, and for me, always 100% unlike this Thomas Massie character,” said when talking about Barr.
Trump came to Northern Kentucky to rally for Gallrein in March. The president largely railed against Massie, who he called “disloyal” to Republicans, Kentuckians and Americans. He also said “somebody with a warm body” could beat Massie.
Throughout his time in Kentucky politics, Massie was seen as a leader of Libertarian Republicans, particularly those in Northern Kentucky. U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, another Kentucky Republican who is an ally of Massie’s, said while campaigning for the congressman last year that if he were to be defeated, that would be “the end of the Tea Party at that point.”
Massie’s allies rallied around him the weekend before the primary. He held stops across the district with speakers including U.S. Sen. Rand Paul and U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, a Colorado Republican. In reaction, Trump threatened to primary Boebert, but the Colorado filing deadline has passed for this election cycle.
On Monday, Massie stuck to his native Appalachian region of the 4th District Monday with stops in Greenup and Mason counties before ending the night at a rally in his home county of Lewis.