Representative Thomas Massie, a Republican from Kentucky, speaks during a campaign event ahead of a primary election at Veterans Memorial Park in Vanceburg, Kentucky, US, on Monday, May 18, 2026. Kentucky will hold a primary election on May 19.
Jeffrey Dean | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Ed Gallrein, a former Navy SEAL backed by President Donald Trump, defeated incumbent Rep. Thomas Massie in a Republican primary Tuesday in Kentucky’s 4th congressional district, the latest in a series of successful attempts by the president to pick off his political opponents.
The Associated Press, NBC News and other outlets called the race Tuesday night less than two hours after the first polls closed. Massie was down nearly nine percentage points at the time the race was called.
Massie has represented the district since 2012 and has become most known as a contrarian within the ranks of the House GOP. The Libertarian-leaning conservative led the charge with Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., to release files related to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, over the initial opposition of Trump. And he’s at times voted against Republican priorities on the House floor.
His independence drew the ire of Trump, who has repeatedly attacked Massie and made it his mission to oust him from office.
“The worst Congressman in the long and storied history of the Republican Party, is Thomas Massie. He is an obstructionist and a fool. Vote him out of office tomorrow, Tuesday. It will be a great day for America! President DJT,” Trump wrote Monday on Truth Social, then reposted on Tuesday.
Massie becomes the latest casualty in Trump’s revenge tour, as the president shows he still holds considerable sway over the Republican electorate.
Earlier this month, Trump successfully campaigned to oust a group of Indiana state Republicans who opposed his redistricting push. Sen. Bill Cassidy, who was one of seven Republican senators who voted to convict Trump in 2021 after the House impeached him, finished third in the Louisiana primary over the weekend and will not advance to a runoff. Trump had supported Rep. Julia Letlow, who finished first in the contest.
On Tuesday, Trump added Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, to the list to be punished for being insufficiently loyal. Trump endorsed Cornyn’s primary opponent, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
“John Cornyn is a good man, and I worked well with him, but he was not supportive of me when times were tough and, despite having the Most Successful Economy in the History of our Country during my First Term and, with all of the many other things that I accomplished,” Trump posted to Truth Social.
The primary between Gallrein and Massie was the most expensive on record, with $32.6 million spent on ads according to AdImpact. Of that, $7.9 million was used to fund attack ads aimed at Massie, as money from Trump allies and pro-Israel groups flooded the district. Massie is an anti-interventionist and has voted against aid to Israel.
On Monday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth took the unusual step of traveling to the district to campaign against Massie, despite a federal law prohibiting sitting cabinet officials from engaging in politics in their official capacity.
Defense Department spokesperson Sean Parnell said Hegseth was in Kentucky in his “personal capacity” and that the appearance had been “thoroughly vetted and cleared by lawyers.”
