Republican Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie will face a serious primary challenge from a Trump-endorsed opponent during the midterms.
Former Navy SEAL and fifth-generation Kentucky farmer Ed Gallrein declared his candidacy to unseat Massie on Tuesday morning with President Donald Trump’s support. The president has vowed to defeat Massie, a frequent Trump critic in the House GOP Caucus who is frequently one of the few Republicans to vote against legislation supported by the president.
Gallrein’s entry into the race was first reported by Fox News Digital.
He justified his decision to challenge Massie by arguing that the representative of Kentucky’s 4th congressional district should be working to help pass the president’s policy agenda, rather than consistently voting against Trump-backed legislation.
Massie notably voted against the president’s signature piece of legislation — the One Big Beautiful Bill Act — in July and joined Democrats in voting against legislation to overhaul the District of Columbia’s lax crime policies.
The libertarian-oriented Republican has frequently bucked his party on Trump-backed government funding bills. He is also working with Democrats to order the administration to release all of its investigative files related to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
The White House has repeatedly warned lawmakers that supporting a discharge petition to compel the release of the files will be seen “as a very hostile act.”
“This district is Trump Country,” Gallrein told the outlet. “The President doesn’t need obstacles in Congress – he needs backup. I’ll defeat Thomas Massie, stand shoulder to shoulder with President Trump, and deliver the America First results Kentuckians voted for.”
The military veteran received Trump’s endorsement in a Truth Social post on Friday. Gallrein did not enter the race until four days later.
“Third Rate Congressman Thomas Massie, a Weak and Pathetic RINO from the Great Commonwealth of Kentucky, a place I love, and won big SIX TIMES, must be thrown out of office, ASAP!” Trump wrote. “The incredible people of Kentucky’s 4th Congressional District gave us a mandate to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, and the person that will help us do that is Navy SEAL, Army Ranger, and Fifth Generation Kentucky Farmer, Captain Ed Gallrein, a true America First Patriot.”
“After having been rejected by every elected official in the 4th District, Trump’s consultants clearly pushed the panic button with their choice of failed candidate and establishment hack Ed Gallrein,” Massie told the Daily Caller News Foundation referencing Gallrein’s unsuccessful bid for a state Senate seat in 2024. “Ed’s been begging them to pick him for over three months now.”
Massie is serving in his seventh full House term and represents a Republican-heavy district in western Kentucky. He reported his best fundraising haul ever — roughly $768,000 — in the year’s third quarter, according to a recent filing with the Federal Election Commission.
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