Ed Gallrein defeated Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) for the Republican nomination for Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District on Tuesday, delivering President Donald Trump one of the biggest victories yet in his campaign to purge dissenters from the GOP.
The loss likely ends Massie’s 14-year career in the House and closes out the most expensive House primary in history, with more than $32 million spent overall. Trump-aligned groups poured more than $7 million into the race, while pro-Israel organizations spent another $9 million to unseat Massie.
“I would have come out sooner, but I had to call my opponent and concede, and it took a while to find Ed Gallrein in Tel Aviv,” Massie said during his concession speech Tuesday night, referring to the pro-Israel PAC spending.
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With 74% of votes counted, Gallrein was leading with 54.4% of the vote, compared to Massie’s 45.6%, when the Associated Press called the race at 7:54 p.m. Tuesday.
A former Navy SEAL, Gallrein’s family runs a destination farm in the western portion of the district. He was recruited by Trump allies solely to defeat Massie.
“He’s been a terrible congressman from day one,” Trump said of Massie at the White House on Tuesday. “Dealing with him is just horrible. I don’t think he’s a Republican. I think he’s actually a Democrat.”
“He votes against us all the time,” Trump added.
In his victory speech, Gallrein thanked Trump for his support and counsel throughout the campaign. Gallrein called the race a “journey” and said he was thankful for Trump’s “courageous leadership of our nation at this critical time.”
“Now my focus is on advancing the president’s and the party’s agenda to put America first and Kentucky always,” Gallrein said during his remarks.
Since returning to the White House, Trump has aggressively wielded his political influence against Republicans willing to break with him, and Massie became perhaps the ultimate target.
“For 14 years, those SOBs in Washington tried to buy my vote; they couldn’t buy it,” Massie said of outside spending in the race. “Why did the race get so expensive? Because they decided to buy the seat.”
Trump had already racked up a string of revenge-tour victories in recent months. On Saturday, Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) lost his shot at reelection after being targeted for voting to impeach Trump five years ago for the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. Similarly, last month, several Indiana state senators lost GOP primaries to Trump-backed challengers after refusing the president’s push for mid-decade redistricting.
But those did not draw the attention or money that Massie’s did.
First elected in 2012, Massie built a national profile as a libertarian-minded conservative willing to buck both parties and frequently frustrate Republican leadership. Massie voted against Trump’s signature tax cut law last year, teamed up with Democrats to release the Epstein files, and has opposed the president’s actions against Iran.
Massie openly acknowledged the uniqueness of his political brand even as he fought for survival.
“If anybody could run as an independent and win, it would be me,” Massie told the Washington Examiner earlier this year. “But I still don’t think that’s possible.”
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Towards the end of Massie’s concession speech, the crowd erupted into “28! 28!” chants, referring to 2028, when the next congressional and presidential contests will be held.
“What happens in 2028?” Massie asked the crowd. “Oh, you want me to run for Congress again?”
The crowd then erupted into a second round of chants, urging Massie to run for president in the 2028 race.
“You made a compelling argument; you spoke your peace,” Massie said. “We’ll talk about it later.”
Hailey Bullis contributed to this report.
