Republican Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie received significantly more donations from his home state than his opponent, Republican congressional candidate Ed Gallrein.
Massie received donations from 1,119 individuals living in Kentucky, while Gallrein received 98, according to the Federal Elections Commission (FEC). Records show that Massie had a total of 2,526 individual donations, while Gallrein had 1,904.
Gallrein defeated Massie by a 9-point margin, 54.9% to 45.1%, in Tuesday’s primary after earning President Donald Trump’s endorsement. Massie received $1,874,603.23, while Gallrein secured $197,216.00 in small donations.
Pro-Israel lobbyists, including the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), spent over $9 million in mostly independent expenditures to help Gallrein win. Lobbyists also donated to MAGA Kentucky, a pro-Trump super PAC, which spent over $7 million in independent expenditures attempting to oust Massie, according to Decision Desk HQ.
AIPAC congratulated Gallrein on his victory and said they were “proud” to support pro-Israel candidates.
“Ed Gallrein’s victory in KY and Clay Fuller’s win in GA ensures two outspoken pro-Israel voices are positioned to fill seats previously held by outspoken detractors, Thomas Massie and Marjorie Taylor Greene. Our community was proud to help pro-Israel candidates win these races,” AIPAC said.
The Baby Boomer generation also overwhelmingly voted for Gallrein, while the younger generation backed Massie by significant margins. Seventy-two percent of voters between the ages of 26 and 35 supported Massie, while 16.2% backed Gallrein, according to a Quantus Insight poll from May 13. Sixty-one percent of voters ages 66 to 75 supported Gallrein and 27.1% of that age group supported Massie.
A separate poll from Friday found that 81.5% of voters ages 18 to 29 supported Massie, while 70. 7 % of voters ages 30 to 44 supported him, according to Big Data Poll. Voters over the age of 65 supported Gallrein by a 61.1% to 38.9% margin. One month prior, 78.5% of voters ages 18 to 29 supported Massie and 65% of voters over the age of 65 supported Gallrein, Big Data Poll found on April 8.
Trump aggressively campaigned to oust Massie over his multiple votes against the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act, his push to release the files surrounding Jeffrey Epstein and his criticisms of the Iran war. He called Massie a “complete and total disaster” during a rally in Hebron, Kentucky, in March. He also called Massie a “moron” during the National Prayer Breakfast in February while the congressman fought to release the Epstein files.
More than $32 million was spent on advertisements in the race, making it the most expensive primary in U.S. House history.
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