Outside groups are already spending more than $5 million in hopes of unseating GOP Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky in a May primary after President Trump called for his defeat.
So far, federal campaign finance records show that anti-Massie forces have dominated much of the outside spending picture in the Kentucky contest where the congressman is facing a pro-Trump challenge from Ed Gallrein, whose campaign website describes him as a farmer who has also served in the U.S. Navy. Spending disclosures show that a Super PAC linked to the Republican Jewish Coalition has directed more than $2.8 million towards the contest since late February, while the group MAGA KY has spent around $2.7 million this cycle.
Since he arrived in Congress back in 2012, the Libertarian-minded Massie has taken lonely political stands on Capitol Hill, including voting against spending on the Iron Dome missile defense system for Israel, which has put him at odds with members of his own party. He was also one of the only House Republicans who voted against Mr. Trump’s massive spending and policy bill, the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Act. His opposition towards high-profile GOP issues put him on a collision course with Mr. Trump last year, one that appeared to only accelerate after he helped push through a hard-fought transparency bill that forced the Justice Department to release an enormous amount of records from the Jeffrey Epstein case.
But Massie has benefited from some outside support, too, in his re-election run to the tune of around $1.18 million. Yet that figure is overshadowed by the cash attempting to help his opponent. Massie’s northern Kentucky district is reliably Republican and not expected to be competitive in the general election. This year isn’t the first time Massie has faced a primary challenge, but it is expected to be his toughest race to date, given the national dynamics and the attention of the president.
Massie is at risk of becoming another House Republican to fall in a primary. Earlier this month in Texas, incumbent Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw was defeated in a contest that saw State Rep. Steve Toth primary the congressman from the right.
Crenshaw failed to secure Mr. Trump’s endorsement, though the president did not publicly side against the incumbent. Around a week before his win, Toth was endorsed by GOP Sen. Ted Cruz in a warning signal of the way the race was going for Crenshaw. More than $3.8 million in outside spending went into that primary, a mark already far eclipsed in Kentucky.
The president has crusaded against Massie over the last year, a push that only grew as he prepared to head Wednesday to Hebron, Kentucky, which is in Massie’s district. Writing on Truth Social before his trip, Mr. Trump doubled down on his support of Gallrein, and later in a separate post predicted that “Massie will go down as the WORST Republican Congressman in the long and fabled history of the United States Congress.”
Massie responded Wednesday morning, saying in a post on X, “I predict “President” DJT will begrudgingly sign my beautiful Epstein Files Transparency Act, causing beleaguered princes and ambassadors and prime ministers and CEOs around the world to be arrested or resign in total shame. Oh wait, that already happened.”
